After the Smoke Clears: The Rewrite
by Hydrochloric Cutie
Summary: What really happened between the final chapter of the Deathly Hallows and the Epilogue? This is my version of what happened in those years. Rated M for future chapters. This is a bit OOC... and slightly AU. RWxHG, HPxGW, LLxNL, DMxSB
1. Chapter 1

**After the Smoke Clears: The Rewrite**

** A/N: I have been working on this off and on for while but Squint At Heart got me going on posting this story. I will try my hardest to post a chapter every Sunday night. This is the edited version, although since I'm the only one to proof read, I hope I caught most of the mistakes. But I hope you enjoy the revisions and the new chapters as well. (I have up to chapter four redone, and I'm working on them steadily) = )  
**

**Chapter 1: The Dawning of a New Day**

The dust had settled around the grounds of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the final debris had fallen and the spells dissipated. The infamous 'Golden Trio' carefully wound their way back down the spiral staircase that had led up to the Headmaster's office. After thanking the gargoyle for letting them up there, they made their way through the long corridors back to the Great Hall. Silent tears were streaming down Hermione's pretty, but dirt stained face, as they made their way through the wreckage of the Entrance Hall, where Grawp had destroyed part of the entry wall. It had started to hit home, and they let it creep it into their minds about all who had died in the past couple of hours: Fred, Remus, Tonks, and Colin to name a few. The whole large Weasley clan was huddled around Fred's lifeless body as it lay on the long house table belonging to the great house of Gryffindor. Ron jogged ahead of his two best friends to meet up with his family, making his way over to his grief-stricken mother. Carefully he gave her a hug, letting her know that he was feeling the same as her, though her loss was greater because Fred was her son. He was there to remind her that everything would turn out in the end. When Harry and Hermione really saw his face, dirty, bloody, and tear-stained, and they knew the feelings were all there, and all real. Hermione walked over to George, who looked so forlorn and completely at a loss, and hugged him; wrapping her arms around his middle. He looked down at her in surprise but hugged her back tightly nonetheless. She let him cry over her, knowing it was the only way that he could get past everything that happened. She rubbed his back reassuringly so that she would be here as long as he needed her. Harry looked around for one member of the Weasley family to comfort, but his task was cut short when a smaller body collided into the side of his larger one. Ginny had pretty much launched herself at his person, hugging him to her petite body with bone-crushing strength; a skill she had obviously picked up from her mother. He let her cry, to her hearts content. Violent sobs wracked her body as he held her, until her body went limp, tears refusing to fall from her eyes any longer. Harry really didn't want to let go of her, he wanted for them to stay like this forever.

After her sniffles had stopped and the tears were no longer flowing over, she pulled back from the embrace and leaned back. "Go," she said, her hazel eyes looking intently at his emerald ones, trying to regain some semblance of composure. "See Remus and Tonks."

Harry nodded almost imperceptibly, trying his hardest to hold his tears back, but failing miserably as he saw Remus' face. It was strangely calm, no worry lines or the frown that was perpetually on his face; he was constantly worrying about all of this war stuff, and for Harry's wellbeing, and the wellbeing of his recently born child. Harry thought of Teddy; his parents would never get to see him grow up, he would never get to say the words 'Dada' or 'Momma' and really mean it. He would never learn to control his changing abilities because the only person who really knew how was Nymphadora. Thoughts flew through his head like wildfire until they settled on one, he was a murderer. Albeit, he had killed for a good reason – to rid the world of the most evil wizard of all time – but he had still killed someone. And moreover, he felt he was responsible for the deaths of so many other people: Dumbledore, Cedric, Sirius, Fred, Tonks, Remus, and Colin to name a few. This list could really go on and on. Harry didn't know how he could live with himself. He tore his eyes away from his grieving 'family' and ran; out of the Great Hall, out of the half-destroyed Entrance Hall, and all the way down the sloping lawns until he was retracing his steps the night he chased Snape after killing Dumbledore, all the way to Hagrid's hut – which was amazingly still standing.

He stumbled on the loose rock and debris that had made its way out here from the Great Hall and castle, probably from the retreat of the acromantulas. The shack was still intact for the most part, even the front door was still on its hinges. He opened the massive door and immediately climbed under the sturdy table on which he had had many tea sessions with the massive half-giant teacher. Harry was just trying to hide himself from the rest of the world; a world he now hated had ever existed. He hated the fact that he wasn't yet 18 and he had to be the hero of the world, save everyone from Voldemort, and he just wanted it all to go away. He wanted to lead a normal life, dealing with girl issues and playing Quidditch, and being a regular teenage boy. Nearly an hour passed with him just sitting there, not talking, just staring ahead at the door to the hut. He rocked back and forth, holding his knobbly knees close to his chest as if they would break away if he let go. He cried to his hearts content, not wanting anyone else to see him in such a deplorable state and being the weakling that he felt like at the current moment. After a while, the tears just stopped coming all together, leaving his eyes aching for relief. It was then he heard someone approach the door. "Go away!" he shouted when they knocked on the door.

The person didn't budge. They carefully opened the door, leaving time for Harry to hex them if he so chose to. Then he blinked his eyes, focusing. He say the hips of a female with red hair hanging straight down to her lower back; to cap it off, he knew it was Ginny Weasley, back to check on him. "Harry?" she asked tentatively, trying not to set him over the edge. "Please, come back inside, everyone's really worried about you."

"Why would they all be worried about me? I'm the Boy-Who-Bloody-Lived. They should be worrying about themselves. They are the ones that constantly need to be protected and reassured that everything is going to be okay," he said angrily. "I just want to be left alone."

"Why?"

"WHY? You seriously need to ask me that?" Harry asked incredulously, crawling out from under his table, taking in her tear stained face. "I've killed people, I let people die for me; how could anyone ever forgive me for that. I can't even forgive myself for that."

"No one blames you, Harry. Everyone in the Order, the DA, and otherwise, knew what they were getting themselves into when the came her tonight to fight. They chose their own fate, whether they left here alive or dead; you didn't hurt them."

"I as good as killed them though," he protested, pleading with her to see his point.

"It doesn't matter anymore! WE STILL LOVE YOU!" Ginny shouted, making sure that he really heard what she was saying.

He sat there in silence for a while, mulling what she said over in his head. She just stood there, waiting patiently for him to realize that she was telling the truth, and that was all that mattered. The Weasley's would still love him no matter what; they practically adopted him; and the elder Weasley's already referred to him as one of their children. He couldn't just turn his back on them now, now after everything they had done for him over the years; and that would mean losing any chance he still had with Ginny. After contemplating the results of his impending decision, he looked down at her. She was looking him in the eye, a fierce look of determination in her eyes, one look which he had seen only once before; that day back in his 6th year when they had their first kiss. Harry looked deep into her amber eyes and knew almost instantaneously that what she was saying was the truth; there were people who would still love him no matter what he had done or who he killed.

Ginny held out her hand and pleaded silently with her eyes for him to take it, to give him more assurance that she wasn't going to run away like he expected everyone to do. He allowed himself to slip his hand into hers, entwining their fingers, and his large hand encasing hers. This was the moment when he felt the most secure in the entire past year. They made their way back to the Gryffindor tower, his home for the past six years. The sun was just coming up over the horizon now, but they all knew that sleep would come to them no matter what time of day it was. Once back in the Great Hall, they suggested to the rest of her family and Hermione that they get to the tower for some rest, so they could start the clean-up the next day; after all, they had been up since the previous day at dawn getting ready to fight, going at it all through the night.

Everyone agreed heartily to the suggestion; so no matter what house people originally came from, they all herded up to Gryffindor tower, and the Fat Lady let them all in, password or not. Unity was something that they all needed at the moment and were willing to provide that small amount of comfort to each other. Ron helped Hermione support George up the stairs to the first year beds, where he collapsed from exhaustion almost instantly. Everyone else headed toward the dormitories that were closest to them, and the charm had been broken on the girls staircase by Professor McGonagall so that everyone could sleep where they could. Ron and Harry trudged their way up to the top most dormitory, which would have been theirs if they had come back to Hogwarts for their seventh year of schooling. Seamus and Neville had shared it this year until they were forced into hiding in the Room of Requirement, Dean couldn't have come back this year due to the ban on Muggle-born students. They had been extremely lonely but now that they were all reunited, it was almost like old times. Before either one of their heads hit the pillows, Ron and Harry fell asleep.

Meanwhile, up in the girls dormitory, Hermione and Ginny were sharing a bed; being closer to someone else typically helped, but that was just not the case tonight. They lay there, eyes closed, willing sleep to come to their exhausted bodies, but it stayed well off in the distance.

"Ginny?" Hermione mumbled after a while.

"Hmm?"

"Can you sleep at all?"

"No," Ginny sighed in a conceding manner. Hermione quickly thought of a way to remedy their current sleep situation. Maybe it wasn't a girl they needed to be next to; somehow, maybe a male presence could make all the difference.

"You wanna go up to Ron and Harry's room? See if we can sleep up there with them?" Hermione said hopefully. "I mean… I haven't not sleep in the same room with them for such a long time, I have gotten quite used to it."

"Sure," Ginny said, secretly hoping that Hermione came up with an idea like this. Both girls slipped out of their bed and tip toed over to the door, opening it slowly so it wouldn't creak and wake up the other occupants of the room. Once they made their way down the stairs, they saw everyone who didn't have a room in the tower. There were bodies strewn all over the available furniture as well as in conjured sleeping bags. Scarcely was there anywhere for the girls to walk over to the guys room but they tip toed around all the people, trying their hardest not to wake them. They climbed up to the boys' dorm room, careful not to wake anyone in the rooms on the way up. Each new landing brought the different sounds of snores coming from all the rooms' occupants. Finally, they reached their destination, the top floor of the tower.

Ginny pushed the large door open quietly and walked over to Harry's bed. It was the only one where the covers were completely twisted around him and his hair looked even more tousled than usual. He was thrashing about slightly, as if he was having yet another nightmare. Ginny gingerly covered his hand with her small one and the twitching immediately stopped. She peeled the covers back and slipped under, pulling Harry's arm around in the process. With one quick tug, the rest of the covers returned to a somewhat normal spot, and not wrapped around his legs. He was so tired and deeply asleep that her movements didn't disturb him in the slightest. If anything, his arms tightened around her and she smiled into his chest. She fell straight to sleep, as if there had been no time that she had been wasting, staring at the ceiling of the girls' dorm. Hermione however, walked over to Ron's bed and tapped his arm. He peaked one eye open blearily, but nodded in acknowledgement, groaning just the same. Hermione paid no mind to his noises, knowing full well that she never liked being woken up.

"Do you mind? I can't sleep," she said quietly, trying not to wake up any of the other guys in the room.

"Of course not," he mumbled. She pulled the covers back and snuggled her face into his warm chest. He wrapped the covers back around her and then did the same thing with his arms. They always felt protective around her; they were something she could always rely on. Hermione breathed in deep, letting the scent that was truly Ron fill her senses, finally putting her mind at ease. It only took a few more minutes, feeling his breathing and listening to his heart beat so she could fall asleep once more.

Molly Weasley was the first to enter the boys' dorm where her son and Harry were sleeping, when they were still sleeping. Everyone else had woken up a few hours ago and left them to sleep it off. She looked at the beds and notices that they were lumpier than they were supposed to be and the Harry's bed had four feet sticking out of the bottom of the covers. She would get to him in a minute, but Ron needed to be yelled at. She marched right over to his bed and saw that he wasn't the only occupant. "Ronald Bilius Weasley!" she shouted.

Ron woke with a start, thinking that they were going to be attacked again and he needed to protect Hermione; horrid reflexes he had picked up from the journey over the past year. He had his wand trained on his mother in less than a moment, and his other arm tightened its hold around Hermione's body, as if to protect her from the dangers that were threatening them right now. When he realized his mother he seriously considered keeping his wand up but decided against it; he put it away under his pillow and curled his wand arm around Hermione as well. He guessed he should let his mother know that things were going to be a bit different from now on. "What on earth do you think you're doing to Hermione?"

"Well, I was sleeping…" he trailed off, nuzzling his nose into Hermione's soft brown hair, hoping his mother would take the hint and leave, but he was completely wrong, as per usual.

"Don't you dare get smart with me young man, you know very well what I meant," she said, a stern look on her face; one which she usually reserved for the twins when they were starting their work on Weasley Wizard Wheezes. "Why in Merlin's name is Hermione in your bed?"

"Ask her," Ron said tiredly. He tapped her on the shoulder and gently tried to coax her to wake up. "Mione, come on love, time to wake up."

"No, le' me slee'," she groaned before burying her head deeper into his chest, grabbing his shirt to pull him closer to her. Ron just looked up at his mother, who was already swelling with anger, and gave her an apologetic shrug. He hugged Hermione closer to him and closed his eyes, falling straight back to sleep. Mrs. Weasley was still angry and just decided to share the wealth with her youngest child. She walked over to Harry's bed first to check up on him, but screamed in anger.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" Ginny woke up with a placid look on her face, like the situation she found herself in were something she dealt with all the time. At the shriek of Molly Weasley, he woke up as well, but he was far from serene. Harry was really pale and looked very afraid of what Mrs. Weasley could, and most likely would, do to him.

"Morning mum," Ginny said before yawning wide and stretching, resembling a cat. Harry on the other hand looked like a fish out of water. He couldn't form any words but kept opening and closing his mouth. He remained stiff as a board.

"Mrs. Weasley, er. Hi. I'm sorry, I can explain…" he tried to stutter out but Ginny stopped him before he could get out his whole apology by slapping a hand across his mouth.

"Hermione and I couldn't sleep, so we came up here. Just something familiar you know?" Ginny explained, trying to make her face as innocent as possible. Mrs. Weasley's glare softened a bit, but not by much.

"Don't you ever let me catch you doing this again," she said. Mrs. Weasley turned on her heel and left the room. Ginny was wide awake by this time and was sitting up in bed. She swung her long legs over the side of the bed.

"Where are you going?" asked Harry, shocked that she didn't want to go back to the bed. He didn't even need to ask why she was there in the first place, because somehow he thought she had ulterior motives, other than the ones she had told her mother. He felt a familiar twinge in the pit of his stomach when he woke up to see her in his arms again; but he shook it aside for the time being. He didn't need to be thinking about himself at a time like this, there were so many other people who were hurting and injured.

"I'm just gonna go get dressed, you should think about doing the same," she said, grinning broadly at him. She hopped off the bed and started to walk out of the dormitory but stopped before she left. "You should really think about cleaning yourself up, looking a bit scruffy now." And with a giggle, she left the room, leaving him alone with the sleeping forms of Ron and Hermione.

Harry laughed to himself as he gazed at his two best friends; they had finally realized their feelings for each other, after all the shite they put each other through over the years, especially the past few months, and they acted on it. He remembered the kiss they had shared just the day before, though it seemed like a lifetime ago. He wished he could feel like that with Ginny once more. Harry threw the covers off himself and slid quietly from the bed, and padded across the cold stone floor to the bathroom. Once he took a look in the mirror he was shocked. He really did need to shave; his beard and mustache was starting to become quite apparent and was scraggly over the past few days when he hadn't had the time to use the razor Fleur's parents had given him for his birthday or cast the spell. The mop of hair that was on his head was a mess, but reaching down to his shoulders. His glasses were scratched beyond belief and so dirty he was surprised he could even see out of them. He took them off and cleaned them on the towel near the sink.

Harry turned around and locked the door and began to strip off his dirt and blood-stained clothes. Once they were off, he began to look over the rest of his body to check for the rest of the damage. He found little more than he already knew he had. There were still the pinkish burns from the Gringotts incident. Hermione had helped heal them as much as she could with the limited resources they had at that moment. There was scratches all over from falling debris and there was a scar on his chest from the horcrux. It was oval in shape and he surmised that it would never go away, just like the scar on his head; which seemed strangely faded after everything. He also had a jagged line going down his stomach where he was hit with the killing curse once more when he was out in the woods. It didn't hurt, but he also felt like this one wasn't going away either. There was one thing on his person that hadn't changed over the past few months; they were still as green and vivacious as ever.

The teen turned on the shower and stepped in. it was the first shower he had had since Shell Cottage, which felt like it had been ages ago, and before that he hadn't had one since the Burrow before Bill and Fleur's wedding. He let the hot water flow over his bruised and battered body, healing all of his little aches and pains. The water felt so good all over his healed burns. About thirty minutes later, he had scrubbed all the dirt from his body, leaving his skin pink from the scrubbing and the water, and all the grime out of his hair, so he turned the water off and conjured a towel to wrap around his body. He brushed his teeth with the toothbrush that magically appeared on the vanity sink; it felt so good to have his teeth physically clean, not just using a spell to do it once in a while. Replacing his battered old glasses on the bridge of his nose and he could really not see through all the scratches; so he took them off again and pointed his wand at them. "Oculus Reparo," he muttered, not even bothering with nonverbal spells. The glasses repaired themselves instantly.

Harry poked his head out of the bathroom, all the steam billowing out around him, and checked if Hermione and Ron were still there, but they had just drawn the hangings around their bed and so no one else could comment on them being in bed together. He walked out of the bathroom, with just a towel around his waist and walked over to his bed, sitting down on it. "Kreacher," he said quietly.

CRACK. "Master Harry is calling Kreacher?" the elf asked, bowing low.

"Is there anyway that you can get me some clothes from home? And Hermione and Ron as well?" Harry inquired. "We've pretty much been in the same clothes for the past few months."

"Of course, Master Harry, anything for the one who defeated the Dark Lord," Kreacher said, bowing out of the room; he left with a CRACK. Kreacher was back soon with a freshly laundered pile of clothes for him, Hermione, and Ron. Harry quickly got dressed as soon as Kreacher left the room. After he was done, he laid out the other sets of clothes on the bed next to the sleeping couple. Harry left the dormitory quietly, not even shutting the door; for fear that he would wake more people up. He traipsed down the spiral staircase but stopped at the bottom when he heard some loud sounds.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mrs. Weasley was saying, arguing fiercely with Ginny.

"Mum, it was only a one time thing. When I went up there he was having a fit or something, but I guess it was just a nightmare. When I touched him, all his muscles relaxed, the dream went away. Being near him, it just makes me feel so safe, I don't know, I just want to be around him."

"Safe has absolutely nothing to do with it. Listen, I know you're a teenage girl, and you get these urges, and I love Harry with all my heart; but he's a hormonal teen age boy. He could have taken advantage of you," Molly cried out. "I don't want my little girls' reputation sullied by the likes of a young boy."

"No, Harry's nothing like that… he would **never** do that to me," Ginny argued fiercely. "I can't believe you would even think like that." Harry warmed at the thought of Ginny defending him to her mother.

"I've raised six boys before you, and I think I would know how they can act. I have caught your brothers and girls before," Molly said.

"Well Harry wouldn't do that," Ginny said angrily.

"He's almost eighteen, his hormones are running his body; he couldn't possibly thinking rationally when a willing girl crawled into his bed last night," Molly said, scoffing.

"I was not a willing girl," Ginny yelled, not bothering to keep her voice down now. All the sleeping patrons of Gryffindor tower were up and out for the most part. "He wasn't in any condition to do anything to me anyway last night. We were both wearing all of our clothes if you didn't remember. I wouldn't sleep with him after everything that has happened anyway, it would be way to soon."

"But you slept in the same bed as him?" Molly asked.

"He's my friend above everything else," Ginny pointed out.

"So you two are friends?"

"For the time being," Ginny conceded.

"Would you take me back eventually then?" said Harry quietly, making his presence know to the two fighting women.

"What?" Ginny and Molly shouted together, clearly startled by the appearance of Harry. They wheeled around to face him, still standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Eventually, would you take me back?" Harry asked again.

"I – I don't know," Ginny stammered, wondering how long he had been standing there.

"I heard the whole thing," he confirmed, almost as if he was reading her mind.

"Oh," Mrs. Weasley gasped, wishing she could take back all she had said. She was also startled at the fact that Harry said to take him 'back'.

"Mrs. Weasley, don't worry, Ginny won't be sleeping in my bed for those reasons. I'll just say this; if she ever feels the need to be comforted, I am always there." Harry spoke with a maturity beyond his years.

"You said back?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, we kinda dated at the end of last year," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head and blushing slightly.

"And how did I not notice this?" Molly asked Ginny, her hands on her hips. Ginny turned to Harry and smiled sheepishly.

"I'll tell her," she said. "Go down to the Great Hall, or what ever you were gonna do."

"Okay then," Harry said, smiling at the two Weasley women. Ginny walked over and gave him a big hug, radiating all the apologies that she could muster. Harry left the common room and headed down to the Great Hall to start cleaning up the mess that was left over from the previous night. He was met by Kreacher.

"Master Harry, what is you doing down here?" the elf asked. "You is supposed to be resting, we is supposed to be helping clean up."

"No Kreacher, you and the house-elves have fought just as hard as we did. You and the rest need to sleep as well," Harry insisted. Kreacher bowed his head and vanished out from the room. Harry began vanishing the rocks and debris from the side of the Great Hall nearest the doors and progressively worked his way back to the staff table. After a few hours, Harry had made a sizable dent in the debris in this main room before others started to join him. After a while, they all go the room cleared; Harry Dean, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Ginny, Luna, among others. After everything was done, Kinglsey came over and shook his hand.

"You have shown great courage beyond everyone's wildest dreams, Harry. You stood toe to toe with the wizard who has been feared by all, with the exception possibly of Dumbledore, for the past thirty years at least. You talked to him like he was no one of importance, like another human being, and then finished the war. You defeated the Dark Lord. I couldn't be more proud of you; you're your parents' son, through and through."

"Thank you, sir. I couldn't have done it with out a lot of help. Hermione and Ron were there from the beginning. The Order kept a large part of keeping me alive and I really couldn't have done a lot of this without the Weasley's taking me into their home."

"So what really happened last night?" Kingsley asked. Harry told his part of the story briefly, but it was a really watered down version, and Kingsley just stood there and looked shocked. 'No one could have possibly gone through what this boy has gone through and make it out alive,' he thought. "I really think it would mean a lot to the people here if you told everyone what really happened, I think; if you didn't leave anything out," he said. Harry had left out the parts about Ron leaving, the Deathly Hallows, Snape's memories, and his conversation with Dumbledore. Harry told Kingsley to get everyone together, after they had a decent meal, he would tell everyone. But he really only wanted to do this once so he needed everyone to be there that wanted to hear about this. Kinglsey tried to get him to talk about interviews but he already decided. He would talk to two sources, the Daily Prophet, on his own terms, and the Quibbler. Harry spotted Ron and Hermione over by the entrance of the Great Hall so he went over to talk to them.

"So can I ask you two a question?" Harry asked.

"Sure," Hermione shrugged.

"Are you two together now? Finally got to your senses or what?" he asked, enforcing the point that they needed to figure everything out.

"Yeah well, mum noticed us in bed," Ron said, wincing slightly, not really giving a straight answer.

"Your mother saw us?" Hermione said fearfully, her face paling slightly.

"I tried to wake you up but you told me no," he chuckled to himself. "I've learned over the years that I should try not to tell you anything other than what you say."

"Funny, Ronald, very funny. What did your mother say?" said Hermione, looking horrified.

"Well, I don't remember if she said anything at all, I fell back asleep as soon as possible," said Ron. "Bit I promise, we'll tell her soon if you'd like."

"Yes I would like that," said Hermione, now smiling up at him. Ron gave her a big hug at this news. Harry remembered their first kiss very vividly, seeing as he was right next to them when it happened. He was very happy for his best friends, knowing that they had secretly fancied each other for years now, no matter what they told other people. Ron had learned his lesson with the 'Lavender incident' and Hermione knew not to mention the Yule ball or Viktor Krum to him again, unless she wanted to deal with a temper tantrum.

As his friends hugged, Harry surveyed the Great Hall. It was now filled with everyone who fought last night. The bodies of the fallen hero's had been moved to an empty classroom, waiting until they could be put to rest. "Kreacher?"

"Master Harry is wanting something?" Kreacher appeared and asked, bowing low.

"Umm… well, if the rest of the house-elves are up for it, we sure could use a descent meal," Harry asked tentatively.

"Of course, we have slept for too long as it is, Kreacher will alert them straight away. When would Master Harry be wanting his food?"

"As soon as possible," Harry said quickly, trying to cover the sounds of his grumbling stomach. He hadn't eaten a descent meal since they left Fleur's and not for months before that; but he hadn't really eaten anything other than the scraps from the Hogs Head two days ago.

About fifteen minutes later, tumultuous amounts of food appeared on the house tables and everyone was sitting in the different places, not just at their house tables. All the children seemed to be sitting together, while the families were not far off. The food was good, but the company was better. They all ate their fill and still had leftovers to pick at later during Harry's speech. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were still on the thin side, since they have not been eating properly since the wedding. Kingsley walked up to the front of the room after everyone seemed to be done eating and conjured up three arm chairs and put his wand to his throat. "Sonorus. If I could have your attention please," Kingsley's deep voice emanated throughout the hall. "I have some news to deliver. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley have decided to share their story over the past year. This is a story of hardship and determination, and I suggest you sit and listen to what they have to say about the defeat of You-Know-Who."

Harry stood up from his bench, Hermione and Ron following suit, and walked up to the front of the room, and took his seat in the armchair on the end, leaving Hermione and Ron to sit next to each other. He pointed his wand at his throat and muttered the amplifying spell. "Hi everyone. I would like to start off to by saying how sorry I am for this war affecting the families all over the country. I know you must have suffered at the hand of Voldemort, and I do wish you all the condolences in the world." Harry turned to Kingsley. "Where should I start?"

"I'm sure we're all wondering what happened the night that Professor Dumbledore died," Kingsley suggested, hoping to shed some light on the subject for once in nearly a year.

"Alright then," Harry said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Professor Dumbledore had been giving me private lessons all that year, to get me ready for the war, but it was really just learning about the horcruxes; I'll explain them later. But the day the Dumbledore died, he took me on a trip. We went to this old cave that was surrounded by a lake, really rough place if you ask me. We actually had to go into the cave to get the horcrux he thought was there. We had to pay the wall in blood to even gain entrance, so already it seemed really bad. Inside, there was a large lake, and in the middle of the lake there was an island with a large goblet on it. Dumbledore somehow figured out there was an invisible boat or something; something about magical traces and such.

"So we took the boat to the island and there was the locket at the bottom of the liquid. You couldn't get it by hand, so someone had to drink the potion away. I offered to do it, but Dumbledore made me promise to make him drink it all, force him if I had to. I wasn't quick to agree but there was really no other choice, we all know how stubborn he was." There was a chuckle through the crowd. "It made him mad, and he kept screaming for me to kill him, and I guess he was reliving all the past things that he had done. We got the locket but we were attacked by the inferi that were just under the water of the lake. It took a lot of fire but we got out of the cave and managed to apparate back to Hogsmeade. We saw the dark mark above the tower so we needed to get there as soon as possible. All Dumbledore could do was tell me to get Severus Snape. But Draco Malfoy came in; Voldemort had told him to kill Dumbledore, which he couldn't do. All he could do was disarm him. Dumbledore froze me under the invisible cloak that I own, so I was not seen, heard, nor could I move at all.

"There were a few more death eaters who came up to see us but they did nothing because Draco was supposed to do it. In the end Severus came up and killed him, Avada and all. I knew the moment he was dead because I was released from the spells he put on me. You have no idea how pissed I was that Snape, the teacher whom most of us really hated even though Dumbledore told us time and again that we could trust him, killed him in the end. But you were all there for the funeral."

"We all had made plans," Hermione said, picking up where Harry left off. "Ron and I wouldn't let him go on this mission that Dumbledore gave him all alone. So we ended up rescuing him from his relative's house with a whole cadre of Order members. We all decided early on to help out Harry so we had seven Potter's leave his house; but our coverage was blown when Voldemort and the Death Eaters showed up. One of our ranks was killed, Alastor Moody, and we couldn't have been sadder. George Weasley also lost his ear during the fight as well."

"We stayed at my house until the wedding of my oldest brother Bill," Ron continued. "We had everything planned out, with some hindrance from my mum, but that's beside the point." Molly looked like she was ready to scold him, but held her tongue when Arthur reached over and held her hand. "The night before the wedding, Scrimgeour comes to the house because he's finally done meddling with Dumbledore's will. They wouldn't even give us all the stuff. I got this thinger called a Deluminator, and it can give and take light from different things; kinda nifty if you ask me. Hermione got a book, and Harry was supposed to get the sword of Gryffindor but the Ministry couldn't give it because it belonged to the school apparently."

"Yeah, well, got in a huge fight with him, and he threatened me, shocker," Harry said sarcastically. "Anyway, the wedding was a nice affair, lots of people. But the Death Eaters had to take over the ministry and they just had to gate crash the wedding after they killed Scrimgeour. So Ron, Hermione, and I hot-footed out of there, out to some street in Muggle London. Somehow the Death Eaters found us, and we thought I still had the trace on me, but that was impossibly because I had already turned 17. So we fought them off and apparated to my house."

"What house?" Oliver Wood asked from the crowd, puzzled that his former team mate who was younger than himself would have a house, while he was still struggling to maintain his flat with his roommate.

"Why my godfather, Sirius Black, was murdered, I inherited his house," Harry answered quietly – or as quietly as he could while still having the voice magnification charm on. "We stayed there for a while, trying to figure out why the horcrux we thought we found when Dumbledore and I were in the cave was a fake, and the person who stole it was RAB. This turned out to be someone just under our noses. We were in the Black family house, scouring the place, when we stumbled upon his younger brother's room; Regulus Arcturus Black. He was a Death Eater, but in the end he knew that he was in too deep and that he tried to get out. He got to the horcrux and hid it in the house. Funnily enough when we had been cleaning a few years back, we had found the real locket and were unable to open it, so we put it in a pile to give away. Thankfully my house elf Kreacher took the locket and hid it, among other things. Then the fool Mundungus Fletcher stole it, along with a slew of other things from my house, so we got Kreacher to track him down."

"Oh Merlin, the best thing was when Kreacher found him," Ron laughed heartily. "He whacked him in the head with a cast-iron frying pan. It was the best, and we had to stop him from keeping it up."

Kreacher was smiling at the mentioning of his name and the fact that he really wish they would have let him continue his assault.

"Well, we found out that Mundungus got the locket confiscated by a woman who looked like a toad and had a bow on her head, three guesses who that was?" Hermione smirked at the members of the DA present. "That's right Delores Umbridge had the locket, so we got our next plan of action; Infiltrate the Ministry."

"We stalked out the place for weeks, trying to get someone's routine down," Harry said. "We got three people to impersonate and got the locket, but we almost got caught so we tried to apparate back to my house, on the top step because it's unplottable. They grabbed on, so we couldn't stay at the compromised house and Hermione took us somewhere."

"We went to the Forest of Dean, but we didn't stay in any one place for too long," Hermione picked up. "We scavenged for food, leaving money for people who we took food from, and we each took turns wearing the necklace with the locket because it caused really negative emotions and if we wore it for too long, then we got really, really cranky; not too pleasant."

"Yeah, it was pretty bad; that coupled with the fact that we barely ate any food, it got pretty rough. And at one point I just couldn't take it, so I left them and I went to my brothers' house," Ron said. Molly gasped but was quieted when he went on. As soon as I left the camp I was caught by snatchers but I managed to get away. I felt really, really awful leaving like I did, but the horcrux was screwing with my feelings and I just couldn't handle it any more."

"After he left, we moved around a bit more, but on Christmas Eve, as we later found out, Harry and I went to Godric's hollow. He really wanted to see his parents and the house that he was living in when he was nearly killed as a baby," Hermione said. "We met up with Bathilda Bagshot and followed her to her house but there was something off. As it turns out, she had been dead and Nagini, Voldemort's snake, had taken up residence in her body. Voldemort nearly go us but we ended up getting away at the last second."

"We moved around a lot after that as well, but the one day there was a doe patronus in the woods we were staying at, so I followed it," Harry said. "Hermione had no idea where I went so I was to apologize for that first." Hermione nodded in acceptance. "But it lead me to a frozen pond where the Sword of Gryffindor was, and we knew we needed it to destroy the horcruxes. It was imbued with Basilisk venom from the thing in my second year, so it was ideal for destroying those suckers. I dove in, but I still had the horcrux around my neck, so it nearly choked me to death, were it not for Ron."

"I heard them talking through the Deluminator so I clicked it; and it took me to a place where they had been. I kept clicking until I saw Harry follow that doe patronus so I followed him. I guess it was a good thing because it seemed like he wasn't coming up out of the pond so I dove in after him. He let me destroy the damn locket," Ron said. Hermione scolded him for his swearing and he blushed from the tips of his ears. "Anyway, after she beat the snot out of me, we really just tried to step up the search. We did listen to Potter watch as well."

"And a big thank you to those who kept that going, it really helped us stay grounded and keep at what we were doing," Harry said. "But it was my stupid fault that we got into our next mess. We figured out there was a trace on his name, all thanks to Ron. But I was being a hot shot one night and I said Voldemort's name. So we were captured by Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange was insane and tortured Hermione for I don't know how long while Ron and I were in the basement with Ollivander, Luna Lovegood, Griphook the goblin, and Dean Thomas. Eventually we were visited by an unexpected guest, Dobby the house elf."

"And if anyone here knows Harry, you'll know this little bugger who painted pictures of him and always got him miss-matched socks," Ron chuckled. "He was really brave, getting us all out of there like that. Bella killed him in the end, knifed him in the heart. We buried him outside Bill and Fleur's house, which was where he took us. We stayed there for a while until Griphook was better. Then we made out plans to break into Gringotts."

"That was a fiasco all on its own," Hermione said. "I had to polyjuice Bellatrix and transfigure Ron into someone else, and Harry was under the invisibility cloak. Griphook betrayed us by taking the sword, but we still got the horcrux that was in her vault. We actually hijacked a dragon from the lower levels and flew on out of there. They probably aren't too happy with us."

"Yeah, well, we went to Hogsmeade after our little dragon debacle, and ran into Aberforth Dumbledore, who helped us into the castle. Most of you know what happened once we were in the castle. We found and destroyed another horcrux; Ravenclaw's lost diadem and Hufflepuff's cup. But when he gave that ultimatum, I went," Harry said. "I went out to meet him, and he killed me."

There was a terrible collective gasp among the crowd and a murmuring of how he could have possibly done such a thing. "I know it was rather stupid of me, but what can I say, I'm reckless." Chuckles went through the crowd. "He killed me and I went to this strange place and I got to talk to Dumbledore. It was a lovely conversation, don't get me wrong, but I was ready to come back to you people. So I pretended to be dead and Voldemort believe it, all thanks to Narcissa Malfoy. She told him the lie that saved my life. Then yeah, you all know what happened from there.

"I just wanna thank you all for taking the time to listen to our adventure, and I hope it put some of your minds at rest about what happened," Harry said. "Thank you Minister Shacklebolt, for allowing us to let the 'public' know our part of the story, and I would like to formally ask for a pardon for the Malfoy family, as well as Severus Snape, posthumously. He was killed and his body is still in the Shrieking Shack. He died from a bite from Nagini and he gave me all his memories, and he is definitely Order of Merlin First class, if there is nothing else higher. He has done so much for us, and we didn't even think to care about what it was doing to him."

"Your requests are acknowledged and are going to be put into the works in the immediate future, as well as Order of Merlin first class for you, Hermione, and Ron. You three really helped save our world from the worst tyrant in history."

"Thank you," Harry said, and he quieted his voice and sat back down in the chair. Everyone was now talking about what they had just been told, but the trio was ready to go back to bed, so they slipped out of the Great Hall to do just that.

**To those who have read this story before, please let me know what you think. To those who haven't read this before, let me know what you think = )**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Home at Last  
**

The entire Weasley clan ended up heading to Hogsmeade, to the safe apparition point, after they all woke up and had breakfast. Everyone was to apparate one by one back to the Burrow, leaving Harry and Ginny to go last.

"Harry, I don't know how to apparate. I've never taken any of the classes," Ginny said nervously, looking precariously at her feet; she had never been good about admitting that she couldn't do something.

Harry grabbed her chin and tilted it back up toward his eyes. Once his green eyes locked with her amber ones, he nodded carefully. "Don't you worry about a thing Gin, I'll help you. Just hold on tightly to my arm." Ginny complied, gripping his arm tightly. She had heard what all her brothers said apparating was like; Bill said it felt like you were being shoved and squeezed through a small tube. She hadn't really known what he meant, but she tried to prepare herself for the uncomfortable feeling.

"I need you to concentrate on the Burrow, just picture it clearly in your head," he said soothingly. She nodded her head in response. He turned sharply, with her still clinging on to his arm. Nothing could have prepared her for the extremely uncomfortable feeling. She couldn't breathe for a moment or two, and this caused her to struggle. Harry tensed up, as if he were telling her to relax, knowing that she could have messed up everything up and they could have ended up splinched. After another moment or two she felt her feet slam into the ground. Harry turned to her and held her close to his body, hugging her tightly. He knew the first time he did side-along with Dumbledore he had not felt too steady on his feet when he was done. She returned his hug, trying to regain some semblance of her own balance.

Once she felt ready to relinquish her hold on the Boy-Who-Lived, she looked up at him sheepishly. "Sorry," she mumbled. He pulled her back into another hug.

"You have nothing to be sorry about," he whispered into her hair. When he let her go, he looked to the front door of the house, which he had come to call 'home'. The front door was open and there were muffled sounds coming from within. These sounds weren't the normal sounds coming from the home, but those that he had heard during the battle just two short days ago. He quickly drew out his wand and charged off in the direction of the door, making sure Ginny stayed behind him. He burst in only to see complete devastation in the living room, trailing into the kitchen.

He saw several figures in all black robes, obviously unconscious. The rest of his family was standing there, wands out and pointing them at the stilled figures. Mr, Weasley looked to him right away and asked: "Where were you two?

"Ginny got a bit shaky after we apparated, so we stayed put until she felt comfortable," Harry replied, sounding a bit uneasy. He looked around the room, taking in all the sights: the portraits on the walls were lopsided and the glass covers were cracked, and there were various pieces of surrounding furniture that was still smoking from the spell fire. "What happened?"

"Once we all apparated back, the door was open a bit; not how I left it mind you. I distinctly remember locking the door when we left. We knew something was a bit off," Mr. Weasley said, taking his glasses off his brow and cleaned them on his shirt. "Well, we all charged in firing spells; Percy, Charlie, and George went around back while the rest of us were in the front. These gits were waiting for us in the kitchen. The three boys took most of them out before we could get to them. We finished off the rest. I mean, they must have been really thick if they thought that we were going to go off our guard now that You-Know-Who is gone."

"I think we can call him Voldemort now," Harry said calmly and quietly. "Mr. Weasley, I think we need to call Kingsley here, send a patronus or something, he'll need to know about this so he can send them to Azkaban or something. We need to keep these morons restrained in the mean time." George nodded in agreement and kicked the one in the head that was starting to stir, sending him back to unconsciousness. With a simple flick of his wand, George conjured thick black ropes around the Death Eaters, not a care in the world as to how tight the ropes were around them. Mister Weasley conjured his weasel-shaped patronus and told it the message it was going to take to Minister Shacklebolt. Once the message was said, the patronus nodded vigorously and scampered off to its destination at the Ministry of Magic.

"We need to go over the house," Bill stated, getting into an investigative mode. "They may have been stupid when it came to their capture, but they could have done some real damage while they were here. Don't know how long they were in the house before we came along. Check all the chairs, clothes, dishes, everything."

"Clothes and dishes?" Molly asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah, poisons and such," Bill replied. "You have no idea how many people have touched old bowls in tombs and keel over because they have a poisonous resin on them. This may be overkill, but it's something for peace of mind."

His family nodded: Percy, George, and Mr. Weasley went out to the yard to check and also checked the shed in the back yard yet; Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione checked the kitchen, emptying all the dishes into the sink, and, not taking any chances, threw out all the food; Mrs. Weasley took care of the living room – putting things back together – and Bill, Charlie, and Fleur took all the bedrooms. All the linens were carried out of the house to the back pond where they would be washed. There were hurling hexes on all the chairs in the house. '_These Death Eaters were really thick,_' thought Harry, as if this would hurt them.

"I'll just go out and wash the linens," said Mrs. Weasley, trying to put on her cheerful face, hiding the pain from the previous few days. "Then I'll come back in and clean the dishes."

"No, mum," said Ron. "I'll stay here and do the dishes. You know, there might be a poison on them that doesn't react with magic cleaning spells."

"You're such a sweetheart," she said affectionately, resting her hand on his cheek.

"I'll help too mum," Bill said, starting to gather the dishes from around the kitchen.

"Me, too," Harry said, helping Bill in his task.

"Oh, you dears," she said, with a genuine smile on her face. Probably the first and last they would see for a while. She took up one of the four laundry baskets from the kitchen out to the back pond. Ginny, Hermione, and Fleur all followed suit and followed the Weasley matron out into the backyard. Once they reached the pond, Mrs. Weasley began to transfigure four rocks into wash boards. Hermione muttered a heating charm for the water, and added some soap for bubbles. The ladies dunked the clothes into the pond, causing an overflow of water. They began to scrub the linens and clothes in silence for several minutes, but Mrs. Weasley broke the silence. "Hermione, may I ask you a question, dear?"

"Sure, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said. '_Oh, no here it comes._'

"Is there anything going on between you and Ronald?"

"Oh," Hermione blushed. "I guess you saw us the other morning?"

"Yes, and quite frankly I'm disappointed. I would have never thought about doing something like that when I was your age," Molly scolded. "I noticed you two not fighting as much before you three went gallivanting off around the country – which was not the smartest thing to do young lady, I mean two guys and yourself, not the most upstanding circumstances – I thought you had matured."

"It wasn't really a choice," Hermione said heatedly. "Would you really trust Harry and Ron alone out there? Not. At. All. And as for unsavory circumstances, I don't find that to be at all. They are my best friends, and now that Ron and I have decided to add a few things to that relationship. I see nothing wrong in that. We haven't made anything official yet, but being his girlfriend is something I would like to happen." She remembered what Ron had said 'We'll tell her soon', but what would they tell her?

"I do see your point, but I still think that boy-girl sleepovers should not happen again," Molly said sternly. "But I see how the attraction to Weasley men could be there."

"I think zey would make a lovely couple," Fleur chimed in, her French accent lessening the more time she spent around the Weasley family.

"Hmm?" Molly intoned, scrubbing some of the bed sheets.

"Well zey came to the house around Christmas time, right after zey escaped Malfoy Manor. Ronald, he took very good care of Hermione. He wouldn't even let me see her until he had healed her as much as he could."

"You can't be talking about my youngest son," Molly giggled. "As I recall Hermione had once said he 'had an emotional range of a teaspoon'."

"He's changed Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, picking up the next pillow case to scrub. "He's pretty smart, really. I mean not just me rubbing off on him. He's really good at plans and the like."

"I knew he had some smarts in him," Molly commented. "Just waiting for it to show."

"He's pretty great," Hermione murmured.

"Things'll come around," Ginny soothed. "I mean he's fancied you for ages."

"What?" Hermione said, slightly confused.

"When ever you aren't here, you're all he talks about; ever since first year. I mean, do you honestly think that you would still be this close after this long and how many fights you two have gotten into if he didn't like you?"

"I guess not," Hermione mumbled.

"So what does that mean about you and Harry?" Molly asked.

"Well, we'll see where things go from here," Ginny replied, dodging the question slightly.

"Oh," said Molly indifferently, though her heart was swelling with happiness; she had always wanted Harry to be a true member of the family, seeing as she already thought of him as another son. Harry and Hermione were practically her children; in fact, she had seen them far more than some of her own children lately. These thoughts filled all of their heads as the finished the washing and drying.

**Meanwhile…**

Bill, Harry and Ron washed, dried, and put away the dishes like a well oiled machine; though if Harry said this, the expression would be completely lost on the two Purebloods flanking him. Bill was whistling, and Harry and Ron were exchanging strange looks. Ron eventually broke the awkward silence.

"Is there something with you and Gin again?" Ron asked Harry.

"Why would you be thinking that?" Harry asked, trying to be careful about what he said. In his position, he stood between two of Ginny's favorite brothers; they could probably kill him without even using their wands.

"I saw you two in bed together."

"You did what?" yelled Bill, anger flashing on his face. He didn't like to think about his baby sister being in any bed with someone of the opposite sex, let alone a hormonal teenage boy.

"Bill, wait, please calm down, I can explain," Harry pleaded quickly, hoping to forestall Bill's temper long enough to tell him that things were platonic at this point. Harry had his hands out in front of him, warding off any kind of attack Bill might have. It took a few minutes before Bill could get him self under control; his breathing returning back to normal. The temper was something that his werewolf inflicted wounds caused him to have, along with his love of rare meat. "I fell asleep that night, alone mind you," Harry began his side. "Apparently I was having a nightmare when Ginny came up, and I think Hermione came up to be with Ron. The nightmare stopped when Ginny touched my hand; she just crawled into bed with me. I mean, we didn't do anything, I swear. I overheard her and your mum talking the next day, it made her feel safe or something, honest!"

"Okay," Bill breathed out, taking in this confession. Then he rounded on his youngest brother. "You slept with Hermione?"

"No," Ron said, chuckling lightly. "Slept in the same bed, yes, but not 'together', get your mind outta the gutter."

"Not bloody likely," Bill muttered.

"She came in with Ginny and Mum found us the next morning," Ron explained. "I still can't believe what happened that night."

"Me neither," Harry said.

"What you talking about?" Bill asked.

"Oh yeah, no one knows what happened," Ron mused. "She kissed me during the battle, in the hallway before Fred…" He trailed off, knowing that it was much too soon to mention his dead brother.

"Finally! Did Harry have to push you two together or something?" Bill joked, brushing over the mention of Fred, ruffling Ron's hair.

"Nah, I said something about house-elves and she kinda threw herself at me," Ron said, his face turning steadily red, and more so by the second. He didn't know why he felt embarrassed by his actions, but telling them to his brother seemed to be the worst of it.

"I'm so proud of you, _little_ brother," Bill teased, smiling broadly.

"You know, you seem to be the little one here," Ron pointed out.

Ron was right; Bill stood five feet eleven inches, while Harry and Ron were a few inches over six feet.

"Just as long as you remember, I'm the oldest," Bill reminded, a smirk on his face.

It didn't take too much longer for all the linens to get washed and the dishes to be scrubbed. The four women walked in from the backyard with baskets of dried linens balancing on their hips. Fleur set her basket down near the sink and went to embrace her husband. Ron relieved Hermione of her overloaded basket; she graciously accepted his kindness. Harry did the same for Ginny and they gave each other a knowing smile. Mrs. Weasley directed everyone into the living room, where they proceeded to fold and separate the different piles of linens. Mr. Weasley, Percy, and George came in front the backyard and shed, with reports of everything being normal and safe. Charlie came down from the bedrooms, stating that nothing was out of the ordinary. All of the Weasley children, Harry and Hermione included were staying at the Burrow for the next few days; filling it to capacity. Bill and Fleur would be getting his room, Percy had his all to himself, Charlie was bunking in with George, to make sure nothing bad happened, Ron and Harry would be sharing, as well as Ginny and Hermione.

**3 days later**

All of the occupants seemed slightly more alive than the previous ones, but they were all still grieving for Fred in their own way. George was taking the loss especially hard, but that was to be expected; Fred was his twin, they hardly did anything without the other. Charlie was the only one he would see or talk to because they were rooming together. Harry couldn't bear to see George like this, so he wrote a letter to him, knowing that he wouldn't want to talk about things just yet.

'Dear George,

I know you don't want to talk to anyone right now, so I wrote this letter in hopes that you would read it and start to feel more like your old self in the near future. I would like to start off with saying that I am so sorry for you loss, but I think you've heard that quite enough. If I could change things from that day, no one that we loved would have died, and we all would have lived happily ever after. But I can't, unfortunately, and people did die. Fred died, Tonks and Remus left their son alone, and the Creevey family is less one brave son; but as Ginny had said – actually more like yelled at me - 'Everyone went into the battle, knowing what could happen, its no one's fault'. And I am starting to realize the truth in her words.

Fred was an amazing person, and we all should be proud of what he did in his life. He died with a smile on his face, trying to get others to laugh. That was his, and hopefully your still, mission in life, to get people to relax and laugh a bit more. You guys acted like older brothers to me, and you don't know how much I appreciate it. You let me have the Marauder's map, a connection to my father and his friends, and you were so good about trying to get me to break the rules. You guys made my fifth year, when you dished it right back to the fat cow. I think you two are the only students in Hogwarts history that Peeves listened to. He really did give her hell after you left, and believe me, you would have been proud of the little bugger. And when you guys started the shop, believe me, I was so happy I invested early, but now I think I should owe you galleons for all the good things that have come out of it.

Please, be proud that you two were able to provide some laughter to the world during the dark times. You two were brave to keep the shop open with other shops closing up and people getting kidnapped. Some Muggles have told me that laughter is the best medicine sometimes. So I would implore you to reopen the shop, keep the laughter alive.

I'm not telling you to get over Fred's death, because I know you won't be able to really. I would be an arse if I said you would. I know from personal experience that you won't get over the loss of a loved one. Now I don't know what its like to lose a twin, nor a true brother. I haven't been close enough to people in my life to know loss like yours, but everyone who I have been close to has either died or nearly died at some point. I had Sirius for two years and losing him was one of the hardest things I had to go through. I'm still not over his death. I can't imagine losing someone who I've known my whole life. I have, however, learned to move on to an extent. I have learned to live with those who I have lost. I suggest you try to do the same. Write Alicia. I know you two were dating, so let her know that you're still interested. I know she would want to hear from you, to know that you weren't hurt. I just ask to entertain the thought about re-opening the shop. Make everything you invent from now on in Fred's memory. I think that's something Fred would have wanted.

Come down and visit us, we all miss you terribly.

Harry'

As George read this heart-felt letter, he had tears silently making their way down his freckle-spattered face. He gave a watery chuckle at the appropriate parts. He knew Harry was right, and he had death with more death than nearly anyone. George wiped his eyes roughly, took a deep breath and got off the bed. He walked over to the mirror to see what he had let himself get like these past few days. His beard had several days' growth on it, not like the trimmed look he had going before the battle. His hair had gotten a bit shaggier, and it looked rather dirty, as did the rest of his person because he had refused to leave the room for anything but to relieve himself. No sense in taking a shower when all he wanted to do was wallow in self pity. He knew what today was, so he needed to get ready, and look presentable for his twin. He needed to make his way into the land of the living. Today was when the funeral would be held for Fred, Tonks, Remus, and Colin Creevey. Everyone would be going back to Hogwarts to offer their respects for the dead. George decided to take a trip to the shower and clean up a bit. Then he found his 'lucky' brush and attacked his hair until it shown like the sun. Afterwards he got his razor and cleaned up his face to where he had a closely shaved beard; and it was a slightly darker color than his hair.

George finally emerged from the upstairs and headed down to the kitchen, where the whole family was eating a late breakfast. When he entered the kitchen, everyone looked up at him. The trio thought that Molly would start bawling right away, since George was identical to his twin. She did start crying, but she was smiling all the same, and ran over to hug him. He returned the hug just as tightly and smiled at her. He greeted each brother with a handshake that inevitably turned into a manly hug. Once he reached Harry, he pulled him into a real hug and let Harry know that everything he had written helped him.

"Thanks for the letter, mate, it really meant a lot," George said upon finally relinquishing his hold on Harry.

"No problem," Harry said, smiling brightly. George returned the smile, the first real smile that everyone could see on him since the final battle. Harry had warned the family to not approach him about the letter or his reasoning as to why he came down, to just let him be for a while. They all were just going to let him get reacquainted with everything at his own point.

**A/N: As a disclaimer, i don't own any of this, just play in JKR's world. = )**

**I am certainly trying hard to keep this up but reviews keep me motivated (hint*hint*wink*wink)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A Somber Affair**

The Weasley's all met Harry and Hermione out in the front yard so they could apparate away once more to the outer most grounds at Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny apparated away together again, leaving after everyone else had. For the second time within the week, Ginny found herself clinging to her one-time boyfriend for dear life, so she didn't get all disoriented and nearly fall again. As they were walking up to the castle, Harry and Ginny found that their swinging arms made their hands brush up against one another; but they didn't join hands, not as though thy didn't want to, but were just unsure. They all walked into the Great Hall together and there was already a huge crowd gathered there. The whole front row of benches were reserved for the Weasley family, Harry, and Hermione. The same tufty haired man was behind a podium, next to all the caskets of people who died, but four were at the forefront: Fred, Tonks, Remus, and Colin.

The small man droned on for what seemed like days, but in reality it was only like an hour and a half. He went on about how talented and graceful Tonks was, how Lupin was fairly carefree, and he even decided to portray Fred as a serious, respectable person – like an uptight suit. Harry had to put a stop to all this madness before people actually believed these lies. So after the man stopped talking, Harry walked up and asked to say a few words. No one could really deny him anything right now, because he was Harry freaking Potter (probably one of the few times he will actually make use of his fame). So he stood behind the podium and surveyed the crowd: the entire Weasley clan nodded in their approval at him, as well as Andromeda Tonks.

"I know that everyone here must still be grieving in their own way, and will be for some time to come. I too am grieving for loved ones that I've lost during the past few years. When I listened to the man giving the eulogy, I couldn't help but laugh at some bits. I know that whole speech was just for show, because we all know our loved ones weren't the perfect people that he portrayed them to be – as much as we would like them to be. Whenever you're at a funeral, people always say the nicest things about the deceased, but I personally would like to remember them how they were in real life, not in our dream world. So I had four very close personal friends die at the final battle and they weren't the top-notch Colin, the respectable Fred, the graceful Tonks, or the carefree Remus. These are the shells that society wants to see.

"I don't know about you all, but what I remember about Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin is that she would kick my arse if she knew that I said her full name in front of this many people (* crowd chuckled *). She was so mad that that was her name, so we all had to call her Tonks, even after she decided to marry Remus. I also remember that she was anything but graceful. She was a great Auror, don't get me wrong, but she was so uncoordinated, and the farthest thing from graceful that there could be. At my house, there is an ugly old troll foot umbrella stand, and without fail, every time she came into the house, she would trip on it; and this would wake up a very loud and raucous painting at the end of the hall."

The Weasley family gave a quiet chuckle, because they actually knew what he was talking about. Mrs. Black never let her forget that she was a 'blood-traitor'.

"Now Remus; he happened to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor a few years back, but decided to resign, because people found out about his little 'furry problem'. Personally I didn't really give a damn, but I guess people think that being a wolf once a month is a horrible offense, even though it wasn't his fault he was bitten. Personally when Tonks had her time of the month, I didn't want to be around her either; I would have rather been around Remus when he transformed." The crowd chuckled a bit. "He was my parents' best friend, along with Sirius Black. And he was a great link to them, because he was able to tell me stories and give me some pictures he had of them, something I would never have since they died before I could really remember them. Not many people wanted to get to know him because of his Lycanthropy. I think that made him a brilliant person, because he understood being prejudiced against, and that made him more honorable in my eyes. He had a few great friends through out his life and that made him all the better, and I think I'm a better person for having him in my life. I was so happy that Tonks married him and had Teddy. I'm deeply sorry for their loss and that my godson will have to grow up as on orphan like I did. But he will be loved far more than I ever was growing up.

"Now as for Colin Creevey. This kid would always come up to me and shove a camera practically up my nose," Harry began, looking at his younger brother Dennis, who let a small smile grace his face. "But once I got to know him better, and he joined up with the DA that we started, I grew to respect him. He tried so hard every time we got together, and I've seen him fight before. Colin was what Gryffindor's embodied, courage and bravery. He was brave, and was not ready to die. He had so much more life to live, and it's a damn shame that he can't live that now. I know that his brother will carry on Colin's legacy in the house for years to come.

"And Fred Weasley, part of the Weasley twins. He wasn't the highly respectable that the guy was going on about, at least not in the traditional sense. I mean, he was a savvy businessman. They both knew what they wanted, but didn't go the typical way of getting things. He kept people laughing while the war was going on. Don't get me wrong, I love and respect Fred, but we all know that you can't take him serious half the time. But boy are they smart," Harry said, looking at George. "I mean it took some pretty advanced magic to make some of those items. Just ask Hermione, she would agree." She chuckled, because she had said something along those lines about two years ago. "I mean, have you seen that portable swamp they left here a few years ago? It was brilliant. I will miss him dearly. All of these people did so much, so we could be here, in the land of the living that is now Voldemort free. They all knew what they were getting into when they came to this battle, and they died valiantly. You all should be proud of them, remembering the good about them, as well as the eccentricities that made them who they are. Thank you." 

Harry finished his speech and was applauded by the large crowd before he resumed his seat. George stood up, shook Harry's hand, and proceeded to the podium, determined to say something about this brother.

"Hello everyone," he started with a small smile on his face. "If you don't know me by now, then I'm George Weasley, the better looking twin, and my twin died a few days ago. We were together from birth, through the trouble we used to get into and got chased by Mum's flying spoons, which would beat our bottoms until they broke. There were bad times sure, but good times as well. I mean, I can remember when Fred and I found Charlie just before he took his first shot of firewhiskey. Fred told Mum and she went ballistic." Charlie chuckled. "And there was the time we locked Ron in the closet. Fred put a silencing charm on the closet so no one would find him." George went on to tell a few funny stories involving the rest of his family, some funny, and others rather embarrassing. Harry was so proud of George, not only because he got up there, but he did what he did best, entertained the people.

When George and the other speakers were done their bit, everyone stood up and gave a standing ovation; they had done the hardest things possible that they had ever done in their lives. They faced their grief head-on and let everyone know how they felt. Harry stood up and looked around for a familiar face that he needed to find, and finally did when Andromeda made her way to a less crowded area. He saw her rocking a baby back and forth, trying to sooth the wailing Teddy.

"Hello Mrs. Tonks," Harry greeted as he walked up.

"Oh, hello Harry," she said hurriedly. "Sorry, he's not normally like this."

"May I?" Harry asked, extending his arms to the crying child. Harry desperately wanted to spend time with his godson, and have the child know that there was going to be someone there for him his whole life.

"Are you sure?" she questioned doubtfully.

"Yeah, I mean, after all, he is my godson."

Andromeda helped Harry settle the fussy child in his arms. He rubbed the small child's back and whispered softly into his ear, "its okay" over and over again. And after several minutes of this, then Teddy calmed down; he looked up at Harry, his eyes shown bright green, just like Harry's. With a pained look on his face, Teddy changed his hair color, to bright 'Weasley' red.

"Oh," Harry gasped at the sight. The baby bore a similar appearance to a male version of his mother. He repositioned the baby in his arms and cuddled him closer to his body. "Do you mind if I take him out for a walk around the grounds. I need a bit a fresh air."

"No, of course not, go ahead," she said. Harry held the baby close to him as he left the Great Hall and strolled across the grounds, veering toward the Quidditch pitch first. He turned a bit and saw the Whomping Willow in the near distance, so he walked over there with the baby, stopping a safe distance away from it.

"You're dad had to come here every month while he was at school. You see, he was a werewolf, but he was a good one. He didn't want to be one, but he was bitten when he was very young. But once he came to Hogwarts he made three good friends, even though one didn't turn out to be such a good person. But they would turn into Anamagi, animals. They would spend the full moon with him, pal around, and keep him from hurting people," Harry spoke to the baby. He wanted Teddy to know as much about his parents as he could. This innocent young life would never live the life that he had lived; left completely in the dark about his family until he was eleven years old. Harry let a tear call down his cheeks before Teddy screwed up his face again. When he opened his eyes, Teddy had soft, familiar amber eyes, and unruly black hair.

"Oh," a familiar female voice said from behind him. Harry turned around, pulling Teddy closer to his chest and his wand out to face his 'attacker'. He came face to face with Ginny Weasley, so he lowered his wand.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, now bouncing the child lightly in his arms. Teddy was crying again apparently Ginny's sudden presence scared him. "Its okay Teddy," Harry cooed. After a few minutes, Teddy's tears stopped falling, and his screams turned into gurgles.

"I was just wondering where you were. Mum wants to head home, but I told her that we would come home later, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, of course, I want to spend time with my godson." 

"He's beautiful," Ginny said softly, brushing his hair out of his face. "He looks just like you."

"He looked just like you earlier."

Ginny stood close to Harry, playing peek-a-boo with Teddy over Harry's shoulder. Mrs. Weasley and Andromeda looked down on them from the entrance to the school.

"They look adorable together," Andromeda commented.

"They do," Molly said, acknowledging Harry and Ginny as well as Harry and Teddy. "I do hope the two of them work out. I would really like for him to be a part of this family, officially anyway." It didn't take the two teenagers long to realize that they were being watched, and they headed up the hill to talk to the two ladies.

"Here you go Teddy, back to Nonna," Harry cooed to the baby, and passed him back over to his maternal grandmother.

"I think you'll be a wonderful father some day, Harry," Andromeda said as she cradled the baby close to her, smiling brightly.

"I'll settle for godfather for right now," he said, returning her smile. "And if you ever need a babysitter, if you ever need to just get out of the house, please, don't hesitate to let me know." 

"I will," she replied warmly.

'Umm, Mrs. Weasley, I just want to take a walk around the grounds. I'll apparate home later," Harry told his mother figure.

"Me too," piped up Ginny, then turned to Harry. "If that's okay?"

"Sure," Molly and Harry said simultaneously, but she finished it. "Just be careful, Ron and Hermione are around here somewhere. Just take care of her Harry, won't you?"

"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, I will," Harry said, with a chuckle.

Mrs. Weasley and Andromeda walked through the grounds toward Hogsmeade, where they apparated away. Harry turned to Ginny and offered his arm, she gratefully accepted it. They set a course to walk around the castle, all the while taking in the incredible amount of damage that had been inflicted upon it a few days ago. They knew that an extensive rebuild would have to take place before the school would be opened again. Nearly every wall outside had damage to it; whether it was a few crumbling stones from the tops or complete sections blasted away. They wound their way around the Quidditch pitch, sharing particular memories, shying away from the one from the last match his sixth year. "Oh, remember Lockhart?" Ginny giggled. "He was such a pansy."

"Yeah, he couldn't even do a bloody healing spell right," Harry grumbled. "Took all the bones from my arm and I had to have skelegrow and a stay in Hospital Wing."

"I think the best story I've heard was when you caught the snitch in your mouth first year," Ginny regaled.

"It may have been great for everyone else, but when it happened, I nearly wanted to vomit. They don't taste particularly good," Harry grimaced. He told her about the snitch willed to him by Dumbledore and how that got him out of an uncomfortable spot, and that he was able to talk to his parents, Sirius, and Remus again. Once they walked around the pitch, they reached a very familiar and very memorable tree.

"Hey, look," Ginny pointed out. "It's our tree."

She was right; many people had referred to as their tree. After their 'free show' in the common room after that last fateful match, they left the crowds, seeing refuge under the tree. They sat at the base of it, and discussed the match, albeit briefly between their heated kisses. Harry led her over and sat down in the old, yet familiar spot. He beckoned for the spunky red-head to join him; she took a seat in his lap, and laid her head on his chest. He automatically wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

"What are we doing Gin?" Harry asked.

"Well, we were just walking around the grounds at our school, and now we're sitting under our tree, silly," she giggled.

"No, I mean, what are we doing in a larger sense?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I woke up just last week, and I thought I was dreaming. You were in my bed, wrapped around me. I mean I haven't really seen you in a year, so excuse me for a being a bit confused. I mean, now it's like you're always touching me," he said, but backtracked quickly. "Not that I mind though. But now you're on my lap, under our tree, so I wanna know what we're doing."

"I don't know," Ginny replied softly. Harry shifted her weight so they could look at each other.

"I think you do know," Harry said, putting a hand on her cheek. "You just aren't willing to admit it."

"I know, I think I do know what I'd like to go on," Ginny sighed, her body sagging against his. "But you broke up with me – albeit for bloody noble reasons – but you broke up with me just the same. I tried to move on, but then you came to my house that night. I tried to start something on your birthday, and it seemed like you enjoyed the kiss, but after Hermione and Ron walked in, you seemed to have a change of heart. You did nothing. You couldn't even dance with my at Bill's wedding. You didn't even look like your bloody self, and you couldn't have a simple dance with me! DID I MEAN THAT LITTLE TO YOU!"

Harry sat there and took it like a man, patiently listening to her while she gave him a well-deserved verbal flogging. "You mean every thing to me," Harry said quietly, after she finished her rant and was breathing rather heavily. "You giving me that kiss, did just what you said. It gave me something to think about when I was on the run. And believe me, I wanted to continue, but Ron was already pissed at me enough for breaking up with you, he thought I was just going to mess you around again. But that's what kept me going the whole time, the thought of coming back and begging your forgiveness after all the way I had treated you. And I know that if I would have danced with you at the wedding, I couldn't have left."

"But you didn't have to leave, the Order could have helped, I could have helped," Ginny cried, tears slowly tracking down her pale freckled face.

"The Order couldn't have helped. It was something Dumbledore said I was the only one who could do it. And Hermione and Ron gave me absolutely no choice about their coming. But as much as I would have liked to have you there, you had to go back to Hogwarts. You were underage, and the trace would have still been on you," Harry explained, rubbing a hand up and down her back. "Then Voldemort would have killed me instead of the other way around." Harry still felt his stomach churn at the thought that he had ended another person's life, even though Voldemort wasn't really human anymore. The guilt would always be settled in his chest whenever he thought about the events of the past year.

"I know," Ginny said. "I just wanted to keep you safe with me. I was being a selfish little girl."

"No, not selfish, or a little girl," Harry said. "You're just human. And we've had to grow up much faster than we were supposed to." Ginny looked confused.

"Not selfish?"

"Look, we're all human. It's a natural human emotion for you to have wanted me to stay; and believe me, I really wanted to stay, but I knew that I couldn't stay."

"Oh," was all she could manage to say before laying her head back on his chest.

"So," he said, stroking her hair gently. "About what you said last week; would you take me back someday?"

"I don't know."

"What's there to know?" he asked. "It's a simple yes or no."

"No its not, there's more to it."

"What?"

"Whether or not you're going to hurt me again," she said quietly, almost embarrassed to say it.

"Oh, Ginny," he said, now cradling her against his chest, hugging her to him tightly. "I never meant to hurt you, only protect you."

"But you still hurt me, intentionally or not. I finally got over you breaking up with me, but last week; when I saw Hagrid carrying you out of the forest, and Tom said you were dead, I almost died right then and there. You can't imagine the feelings I was having, how scared I was, how scared we all were. Then you showed up after Mum killed Bellatrix, and I couldn't believe it, I don't think anyone could. You came back to life, and I wanted to kill you myself. Don't you ever do that to me again," she said angrily, hitting his chest with her fist, so he knew she was serious.

"I won't, intentionally, ever again, I promise," he whispered into her ear, and kissed her temple gently. He held her like that for what seemed like an eternity. She left her fingers trace small patterns on the top of his chest. Ginny inhaled with her nose pressed against his shirt, taking in the scent of him, it smelled like home, like the Burrow. He had called it home earlier; she smiled inwardly at the thought.

"Harry?" she asked gently.

"Hmm?" he mumbled against her hair. He, in turn, was smelling her a bit as well, noting that she must wash her hair with that fruity shampoo.

"Yes," he murmured.

"What?"

"Yes, I would take you back."

"That's good," he said kissing the top of her head gently. "Cause I would really like to be your boyfriend again, someday."

"Slow, as long as we can take things slow," she said absentmindedly.

"Anything, as long as I can be with you." Ginny's heart nearly stopped at this sentiment. They last guy she said this to got really pissed at her, since slow is not good in most guys minds. Harry loved her that much, that he would respect her wishes to go ridiculously slow.

**I hope you liked this chapter, I'm still working on getting the next chapters edited and such = ) so review and stick around  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: What's going on?**

It took a while, but all of the Weasley's had returned to the Burrow, Harry and Hermione included, after the funeral. Once everyone was gathered at the kitchen table, George stood up to make an announcement. "Um, I think I'm gonna head back to the shop, mum," George announced. Mrs. Weasley's jaw dropped and was about to retort about something going wrong, but he cut her off. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna burn it down," he joked.

"I wasn't going to say anything about that," Molly insisted, hoping that her face didn't give away her true thoughts. She still hadn't ruled out the possibility that he might try to damage the shop, due to the fact that it screamed 'Fred'. "Just be careful."

"I will," he said, giving his mother a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then he left the house, walking to the apparition ward line and apparating away to the shop. He popped into the alley right behind the shop and he walked around to the front slowly, taking deep breaths as he went. Once around the front, he looked in the windows, and saw that it was still the same way it had been the night they had left to join the DA. "I guess those wards held," he mused to himself, referring to the security warding system he and Fred had come up with when they heard someone try to get in past their conventional locking system a few months back.

George waved his wand in several complex motions, and the wards deactivated. He opened the door and stale air came rushing out. He coughed as some of it was inhaled, but he cleared his lungs and walked into the shop. Everything was there, all the evidence that he and Fred were the epitome of successful businessmen that the wizarding world thought they were. He looked from one end of the shop to the other, and took a deep breath. He was determined to re-open in a week, so he needed to get to work with a redesign and to clean the shop up. "Alright, let's get crackin," he said to himself, cracking his knuckles and raising his wand.

"Hey mum," Ron yelled out to his mother, thundering down the stairs from his room. "Hermione and I are gonna head out to the village for a walk around."

"Go ahead, but be careful," she warned. "Keep your wands handy." Ron came into the kitchen and kissed his mother on the cheek. She watched as Ron and Hermione's back retreated to the front door, smiling to herself, and thinking that some day she just might get the daughter-in-law she always wanted for her son. They walked down the dirt road that led to the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole. Since Hermione had never been into the village before, after all the times she had spent at the Weasley household, she was enjoying seeing the new sights. Ron, having lived around here his entire life, had seen all the sights before, but was enjoying the company of the beautiful witch holding his left hand. Every place that they passed, whether it be a building, or along the path to the village, Ron had some kind of story that involved his family; like the time that Charlie was dared to hit on the middle-aged post-mistress his seventh year. Or when Fred and George did magic tricks for a small group of kids a few years back who were around the back of the local magic shop; they were so enthralled with how real the tricks looked, they always looked for the twins when a red-headed person came into town. And they passed the house of the Muggle that Bill tried to date for a few months, all they ended up doing was shagging before he left for Egypt and his job as a curse-breaker. Percy for the longest time fancied the lady who owned the stationary shop, because she had a rather large chest that was his eye level for the longest time. Even Ginny had a friend she used to play with in the village, before she went off to Hogwarts. And then there was the time that Ron did accidental magic in a candle shop that Mrs. Weasley brought him to when he was younger. The police men had ruled it as an employee knocking over a candle in the shop when it burned about half of the store. Hermione was kept in stitches as Ron told these stories and pointed out some of the places.

Ron had not seen Hermione smile and laugh this much in quite a long time; since the past year, there had been the locket that had drained them of all happy emotions. Once they had reached the edge of the village, Ron led Hermione around the slight hill at the end of the main road, leading her to his 'secret spot'.

His 'spot' was a small abandoned cave that was large enough for them to sit in there quite comfortably. Ron always fancied this spot because he thought that no one knew about it; though now he knew other people were have bound to have found it while he was away. He conjured up a soft blanket for them to sit on.

"This is a nice spot," Hermione commented, looking out over the landscape before them.

"I've kinda always wanted to show you this place."

"Why didn't you before?" she asked.

"To be honest," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You make me rather nervous."

She looked down at herself, confused. "How on Earth could I possibly intimidate you?"

"Are you kidding? Like hell you aren't intimidating," he said, she winced at his outburst. "Sorry, but you really are. I mean you're the smartest witch I've ever met. You've always made me feel rather dumb."

"I don't really mean to be like that," she said shyly. "My parent's always told me that I wouldn't make anything of myself if I didn't study hard when I was going into something new. I guess I just took that to heart."

"But I love the fact that you're smart, it makes you a better person, and I'm sorry for all the times that I made fun of you for it," Ron said. He stared at her features: her brown hair that wasn't quite as bushy as the previous years, for now it fell flatter in small ringlets that framed her face beautifully; her chocolate brown eyes, and how they sparkled in the small amount of sunlight that was still penetrating the cave; her teeth were now magnificently straight after she had Madam Pomfrey fix them in their fourth year; and her soft, creamy complexion – he just wanted to run his hands all over her skin, as well as his lips.

"What are you looking at?" she asked curiously. He blushed.

"Just you," he replied. "Look Hermione, I actually asked you here to tell you something."

"I gathered that much," she joked. He looked at her in mock stern-ness as she giggled lightly.

"Well, I want to talk about the night of the battle," he started carefully. She nodded her head, indicating that he should continue talking. "I need to know if that was just a one time thing or what."

"I know, or at least I thought that I knew, but you haven't said two words about it since, and I was beginning to wonder if you had really meant it. I know we spent the night together, but I didn't think anything of it really. And you said that you were going to tell your mother, but we just never got around to talking abou – "she was cut off. Ron placed a finger on her soft lips, stilling them for a moment.

"Sheesh, you talk too much," he chuckled, and she nodded in agreement. "If I let my finger off, will you not go into another little rant again?"

She nodded again, and he removed his finger. He smiled at the silence that filled the cave. "Now, I want to know how you felt about everything that had happened."

"I guess I was overwhelmed," she began. "I heard you talking about SPEW and I think I really wanted to forget completely about you leaving us. When you said we should get the house-elves out I think I just lost it. No more rational thoughts for me, I just leapt, and I think you know what followed."

"I think I remember that part," Ron said, giving her that lopsided grin she was rather fond of; but the next part he meant to keep to himself, but he voiced his mind. "But I think I need a refresher."

She giggled, but had a soft look to her face. "I wouldn't really mind either."

"But in all seriousness," Ron said. "Did you feel anything?"

"Of course I felt something," she placed her hand on his knee lightly. "Would I really be here, alone, if I didn't?"

"I suppose not," Ron muttered. "Well, I did ask you here for a particular reason."

"And what would that be?" she questioned.

"I may sound a bit corny, but I always envisioned bringing you here, and asking you to be my girlfriend," Ron said quietly.

"Are you serious?" she asked, equally as quietly.

"Yeah, I mean I've fancied for years," he said, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it lightly; she blushed.

"What do you mean? Since when?" she asked, confused.

"I guess since like fourth year," Ron sighed lamely.

"What! You guys never told me this," she said loudly.

"Well I couldn't have told you then," he said. "I was too nervous."

"Well, I knew you were jealous over Viktor, but I never would have guessed that you liked me. I knew you were going to ask me to the ball after all your belly-aching, but I didn't realize that's what it all amounted to."

"I did like you, but once I plucked up enough courage to ask you, you already were going with Viktor," he shrugged.

"You knew that Viktor and I were only friends back then, right?" Hermione said quietly.

"Well back then I thought you two were going to get married or something," Ron chuckled. "I just turned into a stupid fourteen year old boy."

Now it was Hermione's turn to chuckled at his brutal honesty. "I really wish you would have told me then."

"I should have," he conceded; now entwining their fingers, making small circular patterns on the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Why not fifth year?"

"I don't know honestly. I mean, we spent too much time alone at Grimmauld Place, but I guess we were too into what was going on around us; with Harry and the war and all. And I know that's no excuse, but we were all rather distracted."

"Oh," she said quietly. Then her brain began to delve back into their sixth year at Hogwarts, and that was a time period that she didn't like to remember all that much. A small shudder ripped its way through her body before she could stifle it, but Ron noticed it right away and had an inkling as to what it was about.

"You know Lavender never meant anything to me," Ron said quickly, taking her by surprise.

"What? I never said anything about her," she replied, not wanting to get into a fight with him over it, since their day had been going so well.

"No, you didn't, but I know you were thinking about it," Ron said. "But it's okay. I wanted to tell you. She never meant anything to me. It was her who shoved her tongue down my throat in the first place."

"Oh, Ron, I don't want to hear about this," she said, cringing slightly.

"No, you have to hear me out on this," he said earnestly. She nodded for him to continue. "It seemed like every time you came into the room, I was snogging her. Part of me really wanted to make you jealous; jealous enough for you to realize that you wanted me and would give me a sign. I think I took the hint, in hindsight, from those wild birds you sent after me. And I couldn't have felt worse about it," he took a deep breath.

"When I was poisoned, the first person that saw was you, not Lavender. The first word that I tried to speak was your name. I guess I always faked sleep when she decided to come around." Hermione giggled at his sarcasm. "I couldn't believe you would have still been friends with me after all that I'd done to you. And after I left you this year, I thought you'd hate me forever. But then you kissed me."

"Well," she giggled. "You were talking about house-elves; that was one of the nicest things I have ever seen you do. I just couldn't help myself."

"Hermione, I – er, that it… Can I kiss you?" Ron asked, blushing furiously.

"Oh," she giggled, biting her lower lip. "Sure."

Ron leaned his torso into hers, letting his one hand rest on her cheek, letting it softly lay in his large hands. She released her lip as he leaned in closer to her, not letting her chocolate brown eyes leave his crystal blue ones. Just before their lips met, she closed her eyes and tilted her head to rest more fully into the large palm of his hand. His lips brushed against hers, very gently, and then pulled away. Her eyes fluttered open. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I just guess I was giving you a chance to back out, now that you've had time to think about it."

"Ronald Weasley, I don't want to back out," she said defiantly, but the second part of her rant would never get out because Ron returned his lips to hers, effectively cutting off any words coming out of her mouth. She sighed and smiled into the kiss, letting her self sink into the action. His lips were soft and gentle as they moved gently over hers. He ran his tongue over her bottom lip, tasting the minty lip gloss she applied earlier. Without hesitation, she did open them, allowing his tongue to play sweetly with hers. His one hand left her cheek and went to caress the back of her neck, keeping her close to him. They sank into the kiss, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Ron broke the kiss first, finally surfacing for air. '_He seems to be getting better since the skank,_' Hermione mused to herself. She herself was no novice, and although she was never romantically involved with Viktor, she did learn quite a bit from him.

"Wow!" he breathed. Ever since he and Charlie had started owling back and forth, things had been becoming more and more clear, but he now wanted to try out the new style that he was introduced to. His face was slightly flushed, but hers was as well. She leaned her head against his chest, and he wrapped his long arms around her tiny body. He pulled her closer and they just sat there for what seemed like forever, but in reality was like two hours. Ron was surprised to see how much he enjoyed just sitting with Hermione, not even talking. He mostly enjoyed the fact that he was alive, as well as she, and that she could be here with him, enjoying life with him.

"You wanna head back to the Burrow?" Hermione asked, not really wanting to leave their comfortable position. "The sun's going down."

"Sure," he murmured into her hair. He helped her to her feet, and then hoisted himself off the ground. Ron took her small hand in his large calloused one and led them back through the village. They walked home through the village in comfortable silence, one that was natural, something they really hadn't experienced before. Once they arrived at the Burrow, Hermione pulled Ron to a stop and leaned up to kiss him quickly before they went inside.

"What are we gonna tell them?" she asked, looking up in his eyes. "Maybe it's too sudden for everyone, I mean with everyone, I mean with everything that's happened. Fred was just buried, I mean we can wait, I don't mind –"

Ron figured an easy solution to her rambling problem would be to kiss her. When they finally broke apart, he pulled her close to his body. "No, now I've gone and plucked up enough courage to ask you to be mine, I want to shout it to the world!" he yelled the last bit. She giggled and grabbed his hand, leading her love-struck, dare she say it, boyfriend, into the Burrow. They made it through the living room without seeing anyone, but were overwhelmed at the amount of people now congregated around the kitchen table.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, pulling Hermione closer to him out of habit. He saw a lot of Order members and several of their old teachers from Hogwarts sitting around their enlarged kitchen table.

"Well, Mister Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, rising from her chair around the table. "I was here to discuss the idea of your schooling in the upcoming years. We're going to be re-opening this school year, getting new teachers for our recently vacated subject areas, and we're going to let everyone catch up from this horrendous past year."

"Ohh," Hermione squealed, beaming at her old teacher. "That's wonderful!"

"I thought you'd agree with that Miss Granger," the old woman said brightly. "I was also hoping that you would become Head Girl in this upcoming school year."

"Oh dear," she replied, a nervous look on her face. "I'd love to, but you don't want to give it to someone who is really going to be in their seventh year?"

"No, and no offense to Miss Weasley, but that entire year is full of troublemakers, and she is one of the worst ones." Many people around the table chuckled. They all knew Ginny acted all sweet and innocent, but underneath it, they knew she acted more like Fred and George than they cared to admit.

"Then I accept," Hermione announced proudly. Ron gave her a rather large hug in congratulations. "Who's going to be Head Boy?"

"I was thinking about asking Neville Longbottom," Professor McGonagall said. "Give Harry a much needed break from the spot light. I'll also never allow any more couples as Head's; its cause too much trouble in the past, so Mister Weasley is out."

"Who were the couples?" she asked, not really catching on to what the Professor just said.

"Well, Lily Evans and James potter for one, and Percy and Penelope Clearwater; they might be the only two you would know."

"So how'd you know about us Professor?" Ron asked, still in disbelief about how she found out so quickly.

"Well, you two aren't arguing, you look happy, and you were holding hands. Don't think my age makes me any less observant. I did spend the past forty one years of my life teaching in a school full of adolescents."

"So," said Molly in a disbelieving manner. "You're telling me that my son and Hermione are finally together, Minerva?"

"Well, we just made it official today, and she's okay with it," Ron said, looping his arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"Are you sure she isn't brain damaged? You read one too many books Hermione?" Bill asked, leaning casually against on of the counter tops, his arms around Fleur's waist from behind.

"No, Bill, I'm completely sane. Yes I'm dating Ron," she replied brightly. Everyone applauded, much to their embarrassment, and seemed to be pleased by this little revelation, though they all secretly knew it would happen someday.

"So Miss Granger, would you accept the duties of being Head Girl if Neville was your counter part?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Oh, of course," she said cheerily. "We're friends, what could go wrong?"

"I think he'd make a great Head Boy," Ron said in agreement.

"I'm glad you think so," their professor said, cracking a small smile, a rare smile. The rest of the impromptu meeting dealt with the proper punishments that would be given out to the Death Eaters. They still needed to track down a few, but there were already task forces being formed to go after them. Molly announced that everyone should go outside to the back yard and keep talking while she finished preparing some dinner for the lot of them.

"Minerva, if you would, please transfigure some tables, enough for all of us and about ten more," Molly asked, still busy at the overcrowded stove.

"Of course," she said, now joining the building throng of people.

By the time the food was ready, all their guests has arrived: George had returned from the shop; Harry and Ginny returned from Hogwarts; Luna and her father came from their house, which they were repairing; Neville escorted his Gran, Augusta Longbottom; and Percy, Penelope, Charlie, and Arthur also came along from the Ministry. Minerva pulled Neville and Augusta aside shortly after they arrived to let Neville know about his new position. He accepted, much to Hermione's relief.

Kingsley arrived just as everyone was sitting down to eat, just getting out of the Ministry. Since he had been named Minister of Magic officially, he was making big changes around there already. He was working to get the Muggle-born Registration to be done away with, and changing many other laws that would let law breakers slip through the cracks, like Mundungus. He was always appreciative of Molly's fine cooking, and so never turned down a home cooked meal.

Hermione and Ron sat down with Luna, Ginny, Harry, and Neville to tell them all about what was going to be happening this school year.

"…and they made me Head Girl," she said.

"So who's Head Boy?" Harry asked nervously. He really hoped it wasn't him, because he wasn't really in the mood to be the one with all the responsibility against so soon.

"I am," said Neville proudly. Harry shook his hand, as did Ron, and they gave their warmest congratulations. Luna planted a big kiss on his lips, and he blushed almost a deep 'Weasley' red.

"So you and Luna?" Ginny asked, chuckling slightly.

"Yeah, we really started to hit it off when you guys didn't come back, but when she was taken off the train, we kinda put things on hold you know? I guess we just picked up where we left off when she came back," he said sheepishly. "And she kinda pinned me against the wall until I kissed her."

The group chuckled, and Luna turned a slight shade of pink. "As I remember correctly, I ended up against that wall not soon after," she said in her usual dreamy voice.

"Yeah, well, Gran's really happy that I found someone; for a while she thought I was hopeless with girls. She's really respecting me now, ever since the Department of Mysteries battle."

"I'm happy for you Neville, I really am," Harry said.

"Thanks Harry."

* * *

**I know that the chapter ends abruptly but at this point, all I could write was small talk. the next chapter is something new that i am hoping to finish writing after my exam wednesday, so fingers crossed, and review for me = ) *keeps me motivated***

**much love, Dana  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

**Inheritance and Questions  
**

'_Dear Mister Harry James Potter, _

_On the first of July of this year, you are to report to the Ministry of Magic, London. The last Will and Testament of Mister Sirius Orion Black, as well as the will of Mister and Misses James Potter will be read. We are in the process of finding other Will's you may be included in to make your trips here as convenient for you as possible. You're presence is required for the reading. Report to the Council of Magical Law, level two, office 256 at 8:00 am. Please be prompt. _

_Sincerely_

_Elizabeth Stonem'_

The official letter had arrived in the kitchen of the Burrow on June the 30th just after breakfast had finished. Hermione and Ginny were helping Mrs. Weasley put away things from the meal while Harry and Ron were talking about getting a game of chess going. A grand eagle owl swooped in through the open window and perched on Harry's knee. Extending its scaly leg out almost regally; the black-haired teen took the letter and petted the owl on the head before it went back out the same window it came in. As Harry read the letter, silence came over the kitchen, and they saw several emotions play over his face while reading the brief letter. "What is it?" Hermione asked, drying her hands on a towel near the kitchen sink.

"I have to go to the Ministry tomorrow," he said quietly, putting the letter down. "They're reading my parent's and Sirius' will."

"Well I guess that you're of age now, you'll get what they left you," Ginny suggested. "Or now that they can find you."

"Probably," Harry agreed, sitting back down and letting out a deep breath. "I thought Dumbledore had taken care of everything already. It's like I have no idea about what I have now."

"Well, he's dead too," Ron pointed out, rather obviously. "So now everything he dealt with goes to you now."

"Still, it's odd," Harry said. "I already know what Sirius willed to me, I wonder why they're reading his will again."

"Maybe there's more?" Hermione suggested.

"Well we'll see tomorrow." Harry sighed before getting up from the scrub wood table and walking out in the the backyard of the Burrow.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Welcome Mister Potter," Ms. Stonem greeted him at the door of the conference room they would be using.

"Please, call me Harry," Harry replied, shaking her hand.

"Okay then Harry. Arthur? What brings you here?"

"Harry asked me to accompany him, if that's alright?" Mr. Weasley replied, smiling gently. There was hardly a soul at the Ministry that Arthur Weasley didn't know or not get along with, so he was on friendly terms with most people.

"Of course," she returned the smile and ushered them into the room. The room was a decent size with a large mahogany table in the middle and ornate arm chairs, with a nice navy blue color to the backing, surrounding it. Ms. Stonem moved to sit beside a reasonable stack of files while Harry and Mr. Weasley sat across from her. "Today, we're going to go over several documents as well as funds transfers, which is where a Gringotts representative will be here to advise you on those matters. We have pulled all the files that have your name specifically in them, so please bear with us."

There was a knock at the door before a goblin entered the room; Gornuk, head Goblin-in-charge at Gringotts. Formal greetings were dispersed before they got down to business. "First, the holding you receive from the will and testament of Remus John Lupin," Ms. Stonem began. "You were named Godfather to his son with Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin, Theodore Remus Lupin, who is now residing with his maternal grandmother, Andromeda Black Tonks, is this agreeable to you?"

"Sure," Harry said. "I'm in no position to raise a baby. I go and see him all the time though."

"In the wizarding world, Godparents are crucial, because they are next in line for guardianship, even before family," Mr. Weasley explained. "Harry will defer guardianship to Mrs. Tonks, until an agreement is made in the future determining further care."

"Agreed then," Ms. Stonem replied, marking something down in her ledger. "On to the next business, the Will of Mister Sirius Orion Black. Due to the fact that the other recipient of funds from his will, you will be gaining nearly the entire estate. Upon the death of Mister Remus John Lupin, you receive his one million galleons as well as your own fifty million galleons."

Harry's mind was spinning. This was a lot of money. When he was living with the Dursley's, he was lucky if he got fifty pence to spend on something that Dudley would eventually steal. The fact that now he had more money than he knew what to do with, it was astounding that he was still able to speak. The small vault that he had been accessing for the past seven or so years was just a very small chunk of what was really his.

"Along with the gold, Harry will receive the titles to the two estates in possession of the late Mister Black. The first of which you should be familiar with, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London. This house comes equip with a house elf, commonly called Kreacher. Do you know how to check if a house elf has gone under your command?"

"Yes, I have tested it with Kreacher under the bidding of Albus Dumbledore, the house elf has passed into my possession," Harry said, trying to sound as formal as he could.

"Good," she replied cheerfully. "Then you have been living in Number 12 then?" Harry nodded. "There was a personal message attached to this bequeathing, 'Please get rid of the bat at the end of the hall, she's been infecting the house for far too long.' I'm hoping this means something to you." Harry nodded again. "Okay, so the second estate that will go into your possession is the house in Cork, Ireland. This house is very similar to the house in London and comes with a house elf as well, commonly called Martha. It has come to my understanding that she will not leave the house and come to London due to conflict of interest with the other house elf."

Arthur smiled to himself. He knew that Sirius would be utterly shocked to hear that Kreacher turned out as nice as he had. The little creature had helped the side of the light during the final battle and had been a genuine help during the past few months. Maybe she would reconsider coming back to London in the hopes that she could make number 12 feel a bit more like home again, use a female touch.

"There is also the question of the shares you will inherit," Ms. Stonem continued. "From any personal knowledge I have gleaned from you, you may not want to still deal with these corporations." She handed over small stack of parchment to Harry and Mr. Weasley, but before they got a chance to look over the list, there was a knock at the door.

"Dad?" Percy Weasley said. "There's a bit of a crisis and they would like a more seasoned employee down there to handle it, if you're available."

"Oh, sure son," Mr. Weasley replied. "Harry, you don't mind do you? How about Percy take my place then."

"That's find Mr. Weasley, as long as Percy doesn't mind," Harry replied, looking to Percy.

The young man shrugged and went to go take his father's place. "What are we going over here?" Percy said, getting right down to business.

"Harry, Percy, why don't you two stop by my office on the way out?" Arthur asked. "I'd like to see what you've decided to do with everything."

"Sure thing, Mr. Weasley," Harry said with a small smile. Arthur left the room and went to go deal with something that was bothering poor Kingsley.

"Now, Mr. Weasley," she began, but Percy interrupted her.

"Please, call me Percy."

"Alright then," she recovered. "Percy, I have just given Harry his share holdings in local businesses that he inherited from Mister Black."

"Okay then," Percy said, slipping his glasses on and looking down at the paper. As he scanned the names he noticed a lot of the suppliers were for shops in Knockturn Alley. There were some legitimate businesses, but not many. "Harry, there are definitely some unsavory places here," Percy pointed out. "We may want to sell off these ventures and maybe invest in different ones along the way."

"That sounds reasonable to me," Harry said, noticing the ones that Percy had pointed out. "How long do we have to go over all the fine details?"

"You can take as long as you'd like, its your property now," Ms. Stonem iterated. "All you have to do is schedule an appointment with Gladys at the front desk."

"Okay, then I'm gonna need a few days to go over all this and see how i want to go about it."

"That's fine. Uh, on to the money. All the funds will be transferred to a new vault in the basement in Gringotts, which is why Ragnot is here. There is going to be a great need for a bigger vault for all the money you are going to receive."

"It's that much?" Harry asked faintly.

"It's a pretty large amount," Ms. Stonem confirmed. You receive the five million galleons from Mister Black, as well as the one million from Mister Lupin, on top of what you have in your vault right now, which stands at..."

"two hundred thousand galleons, 720 sickles and 540 knuts," Ragnot filled in.

"And that's not counting what your inheritance from your parents," Ms. Stonem continued. "We'll start with your father's will. He has left you the Potter estate in Scotland, Potter Manor, and the cottage in Godric's Hollow, and with them comes a total of twelve house elves. Do you wish to know their names now?"

"Uh, that's alright, I'll figure it out when I go visit them," Harry said. He still had to wrap his mind around the fact that he now had fourteen house elves. What would Hermione think. First thing he would have to do is get them to agree to a contract to be paid or something, just to get her off his back. He loved Hermione deeply as a best friend, but sometimes she could get a bit crazy when it came to house elves.

"The share from the Potter fortune is just over 12 million galleons, which doesn't include the businesses and stocks they hold shares in. Here's the paperwork on what you now own, and the breakdown of the finances." She handed over several more stacks of parchment. "Now as your mother didn't actually own any properties, she has left you what ever money she got from her parent's estate, which totals to about 10,000 galleons."

"I'll leave you here with Ragnot to discuss the moving of funds," Ms. Stonem went to stand up, so Percy and Harry did as well. They big her good bye and went to work with Ragnot on redistributing the funds. All of the gold ended up in a high security vault near where the Black family one was originally. But now they no longer had a dragon, which Ragnot seemed to overlook for the time being. All the signing of paperwork with Ragnot took well over two hours because Harry had no real idea of how things went. He grew up sheltered from the workings of Gringotts and the Ministry, and he wanted to know everything. Percy just sat there and thought of it as a refresher course. Ragnot was happy, well as happy as a goblin could be, to explain how things worked. Harry was an eager student for once. Harry agreed to set a meeting the the Head Goblin to work out details of trust funds and other such things in the future, as well as to consult on the businesses that he now owned.

After the meeting was finally over, Harry and Percy went down to Mr. Weasley's office, where Kingsley was sitting on the edge of his desk, laughing over something. They let the two elder wizards what had happened. "Dad, what was the huge problem the Minister couldn't tell me about?" Percy questioned, a smirk on his face.

Kingsley chuckled. "I offered your father a position of sorts."

"Its just what I've always done for you," Mr. Weasley protested.

"But now you get paid for being an expert consultant to the Minister of Magic, as well as a pay increase for your department, so you guys can get more stuff actually done."

"It's a very generous position," Mr. Weasley said graciously. "I'm glad I could be of help to the Ministry."

"I think I'm going to head back home," Harry said tiredly. "Should I let Mrs. Weasley know you will have good news tonight?"

"No, I want to surprise her," Mr. Weasley said, grinning. "But thanks."

"Anytime."

Harry walked slowly through the Ministry, taking everything in. It had been so different since the last time he was here, getting the locked from Umbitch... excuse me, Umbridge. It took him a while, but he finally got the the bay of elevators and he went out through the Muggle Entrance. It was a short walk through London to the Leaky Cauldron, where he just passed through to the back alley to apparate to the edge of the Burrow's wards. He felt a wave of peace go over him as he walked through and back down to the house that he felt like home. Soon he would have to regal his meeting to his two best friends and hopefully his future girlfriend, and probably Mrs. Weasley as well. They would surely help him decide what he wants to do with the shares he has, but he's got all the time he needs to figure these things out.

**A/N I know I'm a day late, but I had an 8 page paper due today, so I spent the weekend writing it. And I had to type this whole new chapter and I had nothing to go on, but enough of my excuses... although I do apologize that its short, hopefully the next one makes up for it. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Dursley's are back**

On the morning of July 13th, Harry woke up feeling rather normal for once. But this wasn't a normal summer; it was a more relaxing one for one. He wasn't forced to do chores at the Dursley's house and be bullied by Dudley. The thought finally struck him; they should be back by now. He figured that he would go see them; Dudley didn't think he was a waste of space anymore.

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm gonna go out if that's alright with you," Harry said to her that morning as he came down just before noon.

"Where are you off to?" she inquired as she was still making sandwiches.

"I just need to check in with the Dursley's, just to put my mind to rest," he said, trying to sound casual, hoping that she would not make an Auror go with him.

"Well… okay then, but take some food just in case," she said, and began packing the sandwiches she was making into a basket she conjured up. What she packed into that basket would have been enough to feed a small army. She was packing far too much food for just himself to ever eat.

"Mrs. Weasley, I know I can be as hungry as Ron sometimes, but I don't even think that he could eat all this by himself," he joked.

"Well, he, Hermione, and Ginny are going with you of course," she said smiling brightly. "They told me a couple of days ago that if you attempted to contact your family that they would want to go with you. I knew you would ask me before going, so it would be easy enough to get them ready."

"Sorry mate, but you're not going anywhere without us," Ron said, poking his head around the corner of the kitchen entrance way.

"Why do you all want to go to the Dursley's? I mean Ron, you've met them before, they're horrible," Harry said, almost pleadingly.

"Why do you wanna go back then?" Ron countered, with a smirk on his face.

"Well.. I er… need to go see if they're alright, peace of mind you know," he said rather lamely.

"Well, we would like to see your family as well," Ginny said, her head joining Ron's just below.

"We want to see how you grew up," piped up Hermione, whose head appeared just below Ginny's.

Maybe we can make a picnic out of it?" Ginny suggested brightly.

"Alright, I guess," Harry conceded.

So all four teens took the picnic basket from Mrs. Weasley and apparated to the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. This walk brought back all the memories from the summer before fifth year and the whole dementor attack. Harry led them down to the old park where he would occasionally venture during his summer stays at the Dursley's. They spread out a blanket and opened the basket. They sat around eating lunch in silence before Ron spoke up.

"Do you still have those bars on you windows?" Ron asked, since it had been him, Fred, and George to rescue Harry the summer before second year.

"Nah, they didn't put them back up after you three pulled them clear off the wall," Harry said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"You had bars on your windows?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, before I came to stay with you guys for the first time," Harry chuckled, remembering her first reaction to him. He ended up seeing her in her dressing gown, and she was so embarrassed; now she could really care less what he saw her in.

"I know you never wanted to be around them, but were they really that horrible?" Hermione asked.

"Well, yeah, I just never really wanted to talk about it before, "Harry said. "It just never really came up in conversation."

They had finished their lunches and Harry and Ron vanished what they had finished. They looked up and suddenly saw two guys were approaching but Harry was kind of relieved that they saw Dudley and his friend Piers were approaching. Harry could see that special look in his cousin's eye; it was one of lust, something he wasn't actually grateful for. These two could be real hounds when it came to the ladies. Dudley called out to them, barely recognizing his cousin. "Harry?"

"Dudley, come and join us?" he said, smiling a bit. Dudley hadn't changed much since he left last year, except perhaps he gained a bit more muscle. Harry had however changed. He walked over and greeted his cousin. Harry had grown about five inches over the past year, making him now the same height as Dudley. Harry had also filled out with a slight bit of muscle, making him look very lean. They shook hands and Harry introduced him to everyone.

"Dudley, this is Hermione, Ginny, and Ron, but you've met him before," he said, then turned to his friends. "This is my cousin Dudley and his friend Piers."

"Are they friends from school?" Dudley asked, eyeing everyone up, especially the girls.

Harry nodded. Dudley knew he went to Hogwarts but Piers knew that he went to St. Brutus' Center for Incurably Criminal Boys. Dudley looked the girls up and down noticeably, as did Piers.

"I wouldn't get any ideas if I were you, Hermione's already taken," Harry advised lightly. Harry and Ron started to pack up their stuff while everyone was standing up quietly.

"By who? You?" Dudley asked, still looking Hermione up and down.

"No," Ron said, slowly getting to his feet. His six foot four frame was towered over Dudley and Piers. "That would be by me," he said threateningly, putting his arm protectively around Hermione's waist.

"You," Dudley gasped, remembering the ton-tongue toffee incident from the summer before fourth year.

"Yeah mate, long time no see huh?" Ron chuckled, that glint of remembrance in his eye.

"So what about her?" Piers asked, looking at Ginny pointedly. Apparently he and Dudley thought they could charm any girl away from his freak of a cousin.

"I'm taken as well," she said stiffly, moving closer to Harry and grabbing his hand.

"Sorry D," Harry chuckled. "She's already mine," Ginny squeezed his hand in thanks; he returned the pressure reassuringly.

"So you all go to St. Brutus'?" Piers asked.

Harry nodded and everyone else did too, following his lead. "They started letting girls in a few years ago. I guess incurably criminal boys in one building wasn't enough; they had to add girls into the mix."

"What are you three in there for?" Piers asked again, quite curiously.

"Assault," Ginny said simply. "You see this guy came up to me and was hitting on me. When he wouldn't leave me alone, I guess I just snapped. After he spent those few months in hospital with all those broken bones and such, he got transferred to a safer school." She put on such an innocent looking face that took almost all the energy Harry had to not burst out into gales of laughter. Dudley looked in awe; he knew that they all went to school with Harry and was shocked that they could all come up with lies like that, on the spot. Piers just took a slight step backwards, afraid that she would come after him.

"My parent's thought it would be amusing to send me there after my third suicide attempt," Hermione said. "I needed 'more structure' in my life."

"I was kicked out of my three other schools before mum sent me there," Ron said. "Too many threats made to the teachers I guess, and I mean when I sliced the last one, that was pretty bad."

"Yeah," Dudley chuckled nervously. "Come on let's go back to the house, I know Mum'll want to see you," he said a bit dejectedly. "I'm sure you didn't come all this way to just have a picnic."

"Right," Harry replied. He and Ginny lingered behind a bit, cleaning up a bit and she spoke first.

"Thanks," she said.

"Why did you do that?" he asked with concern not anger.

"The way he looked at me was the way Tom did when I was younger; it used to make me feel special, but now it just makes me afraid," she whispered. "I felt like a piece of meat."

All of a sudden she felt strong arms around her, hugging her tightly. "Come on, we have to act like a couple now, I hope you're ready for this," Harry warned.

"Bring it on," her smirk back on her face.

"D, I'm going to head home, I see you have family things to do," Piers said.

"Alright, see you tomorrow then," Dudley replied. "You actually want to see them then?"

"I guess I want to make my final peace with them, and then you'll never have to see me again," Harry said.

They all continued to walk down the streets to Privet Drive. Ron and Ginny, having never seen a proper development before, marveled at the fact that all the houses were the same, and they couldn't understand how Harry and Dudley knew which house was the one they wanted. They walked nearly to the end of the block when they started to see houses in the single digits. Once they ended up outside number four, Ginny noticed Harry tense up and she grabbed his hand. He squeezed it in thanks, and smiled down at her; that smile nearly melted her heart.

Dudley opened the door and walked in, beckoning for the rest of them to follow. "Mum, I'm home? Can you come out here for a moment?"

"Is something wrong Diddy?" she said, then screamed when she saw who else was in the living room. "Harry! Vernon! Come out here!"

Uncle Vernon came out of the kitchen and his jaw dropped. Dudley asked the question that was on everyone's minds. "Is it all over?"

"Yeah, Dud. The world is all safe again."

"What the devil are you doing here boy?" Vernon said, finally finding his voice.

"I just came to see how you were, all things considered…"

"Then why did you bring them? Are they like you?" Vernon spat.

"We are witches and wizards," Ginny said forcefully. "And we didn't give him a choice. So I'd lay off if I were you." She smiled sweetly and twirled her wand skillfully between her fingers. Vernon let out an audible gulp.

"So where did Dedalus and Hestia take you?" Harry asked his aunt and her face paled.

"Well, they took us to the outskirts of town then… I think you call is Apparating?" Harry nodded. "Well, they apparated us out to a mansion; it was huge."

"And?" Harry prompted; seeing that his aunt was seeming to struggle with something. She nearly collapsed to the couch.

"It was Potter Manor," she whispered. She started to cry silently.

"I-I had always gotten letters from Lily all the time. I never wrote her b-back," she sobbed. "She told me all about it, how-how beautiful and lovely it was to live there."

"It's okay," Harry murmured. "Keep going."

"No, it was just how she described it. It felt so horrible because it was so perfect; it made me wonder what kind of life she had lived while she was there."

"I know she was happy," Harry said quietly. "Up until the end she was happy, just living with my father and their friends supporting them the whole way."

"Oh, I nearly forgot about her friends. I saw a picture of all of them while I was there exploring. What ever happened to them? Sirius? Peter? Remus?"

"Oh," Harry said, sounding a bit dejected. He didn't really want to relive their deaths but he owed it to his aunt. "Sirius died about two years ago, at our Ministry. Peter killed himself back in March, but he was a traitor anyway. He's the one that sold my mum and dad out to Voldemort. And Remus was killed a few weeks ago, at the final battle, I don't know how though…" Harry trailed off. His aunt hugged him tightly again, letting him know that she was grieving for them on the inside

"So, how was the house?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject slightly back to what they were talking about before.

"Oh it's just as beautiful as she described it," Petunia gushed. "It has over three hundred rooms, and they are all so lavishly decorated and so clean, considering that it hasn't been lived in since they went into hiding."

"Well I guess they had house-elves," Harry said, eyeing Hermione slightly, gauging her reaction. He didn't know how Hermione would react to his family owning house-elves, but she seemed passive about it, for now.

"Yeah," Dudley said perking up. "There were six of them I think."

"Six!" Hermione yelped as if she was burned on her bottom. "Why on earth would they need six house-elves?"

"Because they were in the Potter family," Petunia said quietly. "They explained the Potter family history and also showed me the Potter books. They are some magical books that record the history of the family, including that of your doing, Harry."

"What? You mean that I am in those books?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, yes. You are the only heir to the Potter fortune and title. It is right that you should be in there. I kind of kept up with your progress," she added sheepishly.

"Really?"

"Well, I couldn't live with myself if I hadn't kept my eye on you; you are the only part of my sister I have left. I have to say, I was upset to see that Severus had died."

"How did you two know each other?" Harry asked. He already knew the answer because of the memories in the pensieve but it would be completely new hearing his aunt's version of it all.

"Well, Lily and I would play in a playground down the street from our house growing up, and we met him down there. He was a very shy boy, or at least he was until he found out that Lily was a witch. He loved her, and anyone could tell, except her," Petunia said calmly, but tears were starting to make their way down her face.

"Now what have you done boy?" Vernon roared.

"He and I dated for a while when he was in between sixth and seventh year. He said he had royally screwed up with Lily and knew that he had loved the wrong sister for years. I knew it was a lie, but it was good to have someone who even pretended to love me. We went on dates and he doted on me quite well, well, as well as he could, considering he was rather poor. Before Severus no one wanted me, that was, until I married Vernon. I wasn't much to look at compared to Lily," she said sobbing slightly.

"Shh," Harry tried to calm his distraught aunt. "It'll be okay. He helped me so much this last year, you would be proud of him."

"So is it all over, is he gone for good?"

"Yes, for good, there is no possible way for him to come back," Harry assured her.

"What do you mean gone for good?" Dudley asked, looking slightly confused.

"You three want to help tell this," Harry looked at his wizarding companions. "This could take a while."

"Then I'll get you some tea first," Petunia said, getting up and brushing the tears off of her face.

"We'll help," Hermione said getting up, Ginny followed suit and the both accompanied the middle-aged woman into the kitchen. The girls heated things so the tea could be ready as quickly as possible. They also levitated the tray out because Petunia was much too shaky to carry it herself. Once they were all settled, even Vernon was listening, Harry began.

"Back when my parents were at school, a dark wizard who chose to call himself Lord Voldemort started to gather some followers. They called them selves Death Eaters. Some of them are still in hiding. He was pretty much taking over the wizarding and Muggle worlds. The night my parents were killed, he was 'defeated'. Since my mother sacrificed herself for me, I had protection, so he couldn't kill me. What we failed to recognize was that he created another Horcrux."

"Horcruxes can be everyday objects," Ron explained. "When ever he would kill someone, his soul would split into pieces. He actually encased the small bits of his soul in those objects, all of which had special value to him, even Harry. There were six 'objects' in all, and the final bit of his depleted soul was in his regenerated body."

Harry went on to explain everything that had happened with his dealings with Voldemort; having help here and there from his best friends. They managed to compress the first six years of his existence in the wizarding world into the span of only two hours. The next hour was dealing with his search for the Horcruxes.

"I had already destroyed on: Tom Riddle's diary, the one Ginny was writing in; and Dumbledore had gotten another before he died: Marvolo Gaunt's ring, which was Voldemort's grandfather. Just before Dumbledore died we managed to get into a secure cave by a lake and gained another Horcrux that turned out to be a fake."

"Was it a large lake?" Petunia asked suddenly.

"Yeah, why?" Harry now looked thoroughly confused.

"Well… I've been there before, I think," she said.

"What!" all four teens cried out at once.

Petunia chuckled a bit and looked fearfully at Vernon for a split second. Harry noticed and pointed his wand casually at his uncle, unafraid to use nonverbal spells if necessary; he noticed that his aunt really wanted to say something. "Before I was with Vernon, Severus used to take me out on dates. I knew it wouldn't go anywhere, because he could never love me like he loved Lily, there was just no possible way. He took me there on a picnic after sixth year. He was a perfect gentleman about everything."

"You went out with a freak like your sister?" Vernon roared, his face bypassing red and purple and settling on a very ugly puce color.

"Don't you talk about my sister," she whispered fiercely. "After everything we've gone though this year, don't you realize that they saved our lives?"

Dudley stood up and relieved Harry from his mother who had let loose her tears again. "Mum's right you know," he pointed out. "Those house-elves were dead helpful."

"I still can't believe you have house-elves Harry," said Hermione chuckling and shaking her head slightly.

"Well the meeting for my inheritance was two weeks ago, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with some of it," Harry said truthfully.

"You've got an inheritance boy?" Vernon said, taken aback.

"Yeah," he said nonchalantly.

"So if you've got all this money, why the devil did you have to come here?" he spat.

"For my protection," Harry said simply. "Because of Aunt Petunia's blood. I was protected by my mother's sacrifice, and the only way that protection would be prolonged, I had to be near someone who was a blood relative of hers, and you two were the only ones. I might have been dead sooner if you hadn't taken me in."

"And you were such a burden," Vernon scoffed.

"A burden? You've got to be kidding me! You had an extra bedroom, yet I had to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs for the first ten years of my life," Harry waved his hand in the direction of the door to the cupboard and it flew open with a bang. There, revealed for his best of friends was the blood-stained mattress that he was forced to sleep on for ten long years of his life. "You barely fed me while you sat there and engorged yourself. I was never loved by you, or even relatively cared for! If you had been a bit nicer to me, they I would have considered giving you guys some money from the inheritance. Come on you guys let's get out of here," Harry turned to leave when Dudley spoke up.

"Is there any way my mother and I would be able to keep in touch with you?"

Harry was taken aback. "Hermione?"

"Do you have some durable type of paper?" she asked. Petunia nodded and went to search the kitchen for some paper. When she had returned, she held a piece of while card stock. Hermione waved her wand over it and tapped it twice. "I've put a protean charm on it, slightly modified of course."

She split the paper in half and put them side by side. "When you write on your piece, it'll go through to Harry's; he'll feel whenever you write because it will get rather hot." She showed them.

"The ink will sink into the paper but when we write back, our message will take its place."

"Thank you," they both murmured. Harry and Dudley shook hands, and did Ron. Hermione and Ginny gave him a quick hug; all of them hugged Petunia but ignored Vernon. All four teens left the house and apparated back to the Burrow.

"Mum, we're home, but we're going out to the pond!" Ginny shouted. She grabbed Harry's hand and drug him though the house and out through the back door, Hermione and Ron quickly followed.

"I'll call you when supper is ready," Molly called after the teenagers retreating backs.

Once they reached the pond Ginny started. "Why didn't you tell us about the cupboard?"

"I just wanted to forget about it," he mumbled. "Oof."

Ginny collided with him, giving him a fierce hug, knocking the wind out of him in the process. Hermione did the same. Ron, feeling awkward about being left out, joined the hug after a while.

"Thanks you guys, you're the best friends a guy could ever ask for," Harry said.

"Why else would we be around?" Hermione asked.

"You guys were there; I honestly don't think I could have made it through the time there if I didn't hear from you guys," Harry wiped a stray tear from his cheek. "They did starve me, so your mother was right about me being too skinny for my own good, but I guess I learned to survive on little amounts of food. They used to lock me in the cupboard when ever Dudley did something bad."

"The boy-who-lived, the greatest celebrity of out world, grew up in a tortured home," Ginny mused, trying to lighten the mood. "Rita Skeeter would love to get her hands on you to write your biography."

"Yeah," chuckled Ron. "Mum's had wards put up all around out house and Grimmauld Place to stop all the media and post from bombarding things. They have several of our old classmates, who already took their NEWTs, to sort thought the mail. They're checking the out for curses and such. Next week they said they would send everything that is suitable to read."

"And the media?" Harry asked.

"You can choose who you want to give an interview to, and we'll go along, so will Neville and Luna if you want," Ron said.

"I guess I'll do two; yeah, one for the Quibbler and one for the Daily Prophet."

"Sounds good to me mate, sounds good," Ron said, and Hermione and Ginny were quick to agree. Soon Mrs. Weasley was calling them into the house for dinner, and no one spoke any more about the visit with the Dursley's, except saying that it went better than expected.

**AN: I hope people don't hate that i brought the Dursley's back, but i felt a need to wrap up some loose ends and give a positive spin on some things**

**Read and Review = )  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Interview for the Quibbler**

By:** Xenophilius Lovegood**

**Participants:**

**Harry James Potter**

**Hermione Jane Granger**

**Ronald Bilius Weasley**

**Ginevra Molly Weasley**

**Neville Augustus Longbottom**

**Luna Anne Lovegood**

**Xenophilius:** This is Xenophilius Lovegood here, interviewing possibly the most famous teenagers in the history of England since Dumbledore himself. We are here today with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and my very own daughter, Luna Lovegood. These are the teenagers who proved themselves warriors in the final battle. I hope to find you all to be in good health, no blimmering humdingers infesting your ears?

**Luna: **No Daddy.

**Xenophilius**: Splendid! Now, let's get cracking… We're all here today to discuss what happened over the course of the last year and the Final Battle at Hogwarts, which only occurred under a month ago.

**Harry**: That's correct.

**Xenophilius**: Now how was it that you actually killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Harry?

**Harry**: Well, firstly I would like to state that there is no longer a need for everyone to call him all these names (looks at Hermione). As a wise young woman told me once… that fear of the name is fear of the thing itself. We should call him by his proper name.

**Xenophilius**: That is very brave of you Harry.

**Harry**: Not brave, just determined.

**Xenophilius**: So how was it that you killed… Voldemort?

**Harry:** I used the same spell that saved me a few years ago, when I was there the night he returned and got a new body, it was a simple disarming spell.

**Xenophilius:** Now how would that spell work against a killing curse? I'm sure everyone wouldn't have survived if they tried that.

**Harry:** I'm going to give a warning to all the readers…We do not encourage only fighting with simple spells like that, they can be effective but it always helps to have a few advanced spells in your arsenal.

**Xenophilius**: I'm sure the public will be taking that warning seriously.

**Ron**: Well, the spell work was only part of it. Harry was wicked awesome; he taunted old snake face, letting himself be talked into letting his guard down.

**Xenophilius**: Why do you call him 'snake face'?

**Ron**: I honestly don't fancy saying his name, it gives me the wilies, but I will when I have to. It just adds an element of humor to the whole situation, makes me and my mates laugh anyhow.

**Neville:** I think his guard was already down though, Ron. I mean he essentially saw Harry come back to life.

**Xenophilius**: I'm sorry Neville, but did you say 'come back to life'?

**Harry:** He did Mr. Lovegood.

**Xenophilius**: How is that possible?

**Hermione:** Well, around midnight, the battle was still going on, and Voldemort called off his Death Eaters. He was allowing us time to get our wounded and collect our dead. _(Shudder)_ Harry went out to meet with him, face to face.

**Xenophilius:** Weren't you scared?

**Harry:** Of course I was; I would be a bloody fool if I wasn't. Sorry Hermione, caught up in the moment…. Anyways, I went to go settle this thing before anyone else that I loved got killed because of me. He sent the killing curse at me, but I didn't die.

**Xenophilius**: Why?

**Harry**: I later found out that I was a Horcrux.

**Xenophilius:** Would one of you care to tell the readers what a Horcrux actually is?

**Hermione:** Well a Horcrux is essentially an object that holds special meaning to the person creating one. The person splits his soul, by murdering people, and encases their souls in those object; thus creating immortality.

**Harry:** After my Horcrux was destroyed, there was only one left that I had to destroy in order to kill him.

**Xenophilius:** What and how many Horcruxes were there?

**Ron:** Well there was Tom Riddle's diary, Marvolo Gaunt's ring, Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, Harry, and Nagini, so seven in all and the final part of his soul in his regenerated body.

**Xenophilius**: Now who are some of these people?

**Ginny:** Marvolo Gaunt is Voldemort's grandfather. There are three things that are from the founders of Hogwarts. There was even the sword of Godric Gryffindor used to destroy them. Nagini was Voldemort's pet snake. And Tom Riddle is Voldemort, which was his birth name.

**Xenophilius:** Who killed the snake?

**Luna:** Neville did. He even went face to face with Voldemort.

**Xenophilius:** Is that right son?

**Neville:** Er… yeah. He pretty much tried to recruit me to be one of the Death Eaters.

**Harry:** Neville did a good job of taunting him as well. _(Neville turns red)_ Told old snake face that he would join the Death Eaters when hell froze over, he did.

_(All chuckle)_

**Xenophilius:** Now Neville, what happened to Bellatrix Lestrange? She as well has her husband, Rodolphous Lestrange, brother-in-law Rabastian, and Barty Crouch Junior were incarcerated for what happened to your parents.

**Neville:** For those out there who don't know about my parents, they are living in the long-term mental ward at St. Mungo's. They were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and a few others, when I was only a baby. She was killed in the last battle.

**Xenophilius:** By whom?

**Ginny:** By our mum, Molly Weasley _(chuckles) _Hermione, Luna, and I were fighting her at first, we were really no match for her, and even I admit that. Mum got us out of the way so she could have a crack at her. They were volleying spells back and forth while Bellatrix taunted mum, or at least trying to. Mum pretty much called her a bitch and sent a final spell.

**Ron:** Mum is really scary sometimes, but now I reckon that was the meanest I've ever see her.

**Harry:** You figure that she just lost one son, and was on her way to loosing two daughters and a goddaughter. Of course she would be livid.

**Xenophilius:** Of course, now what did you tell Voldemort before you killed him?

**Harry:** I told him that he was weak. Tom Riddle is what I call him. I told him, that over all the encounters with him I've had so far in my life, that none of them were accidents.

**Xenophilius:** That's it?

**Neville:** Well Harry really pissed him off _(gulps)_ And to think, it could have been me!

**Xenophilius:** What do you mean it could have been you'?

**Hermione:** There was a prophecy made, by Sybil Trelawney, right before Neville and Harry were born. It basically stipulated that one would be marked as Voldemort's equal, and neither could live while the other survived. It pretty much predicted the outcome of the final battle, or at least that there would be one.

**Xenophilius:** So what was going through your head at the time?

**Harry:** Well, I knew what I had to do, and I was determined to see it thought to the end. Plus, I had a power he didn't.

**Xenophilius:** And what was that?

**Ginny:** Love, Mr. Lovegood, just love.

**Xenophilius:** How could love be greater than unforgivable curses?

**Harry:** When I 'died', I sacrificed me life for everyone else. None of the dark side's spells would hold for long, none of their spells would connect with our side. Although my intention to die for the people whom I loved didn't go exactly as planned, the thought was still there, and that was what really counted. This created a protection for everyone on the side of the light. It was just like the sacrifice my mum made all those years ago. When he was growing up Voldemort wasn't love by anyone, not even his family.

**Xenophilius:** He had family? He wasn't born like he was? My readers have had their own theories over the years; the most amusing of which was that he was hatched from a Basalisk egg. _(group chuckles)_

**Hermione:** Well yes, everyone has to have some family, whether they are living, or dead. His mother was a pure blood witch, Merope Gaunt, descended directly from Salazar Slytherin himself. His father was a very wealthy, very handsome Muggle in Greater Hanglington. His name was Tom Riddle. Merope had him under a love potion; they eventually got married and had Tom. Merope stopped giving him the potion, hoping that he could love her with the baby between them, but he left her alone, to die. She died shortly after giving birth to him, leaving him to be raised in an orphanage.

**Ginny:** He was so unloved in his childhood; it was a wonder that he actually survived that time at all and became a functional human being.

**Harry:** During my conversations with Albus Dumbledore before he died, there were several things that were revealed to me. Dumbledore reckons that the only reason he chose to go after me was because I was a half blood like him, except the situation was reversed. I had a pureblooded father and a Muggle-born mother.

**Neville:** Plus, I never really showed an aptitude for magic until my fifth year when we started the DA.

**Xenophilius:** What is the DA?

**Luna:** It's really short for Dumbledore's Army. We all would meet in secret because of Professor Umbridge. Since she was working with the ministry, and they thought that we were going to try to over throw the ministry, they only taught us theory, nothing practical. Harry taught us how to duel, how to defend ourselves properly. We put our skills to the test, for the first time, when we all fought in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic.

**Neville:** When we were in 5th year the army started, and 6th year we actually had a good teacher, however mean and snarky he was. So we didn't start the group back up. But in 7th year, that was a whole other story.

**Xenophilius:** Would you care to tell us what happened?

**Neville:** Well, we had two Death Eaters for teachers, Alecto and Amycus Carrow for Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts respectively, by the time Snape became Head Master, so they weren't exactly pleasant. They used the Cruciatus Curse on me so many times; I honestly thought they were going to kill me. So I hid out and lived in the Room of Requirement from Christmas time on.

**Ginny:** We tried to start the group back up underground, making the old members trying to recruit. We had to be really careful. But when Neville went into hiding…

**Luna:** And I was taken from the train, we only had Ginny left.

**Ginny:** Yeah, a few of us tried to help, writing messages on the walls and such, but Snape caught us. Our punishments weren't really that bad though.

**Harry:** That's because Snape was on our side.

**Xenophilius:** I think I must have heard you wrong Harry, but I thought you just said that the man, Severus Snape, the one who murdered Albus Dumbledore in cold blood, was on our side the whole time.

**Harry:** You heard right Mr. Lovegood. He was actually a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

**Xenophilius:** Could you clarify that situation please?

**Ron:** The Order of the Phoenix was a secret society of witches and wizards, which Dumbledore had created, who fought against Voldemort the first time he was rising to power.

**Harry**: I'm actually the cause as to why he played the double agent role all those years.

**Xenophilius:** How so?

**Harry:** He was in love with my mother _(Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Xenophilius gasp)_ Once he heard my family was marked for death, he went to Dumbledore. Severus absolutely hated my father, but he became what he was for my mother. Once my parents were killed, he vowed to always protect me, but he never really showed it. He was actually more helpful than most people think.

**Xenophilius:** That was absolutely amazing. But how do you defend him when he killed Dumbledore?

**Hermione:** Simple. Dumbledore was dying because of a slow acting poison. Snape would be far more useful if he was even more in Voldemort's good graces.

**Ron:** And when Harry chased after him Snape didn't kill him, but gave him subtle advice. 'Keep your mind closed' or something like that.

**Xenophilius:** What does that mean?

**Harry:** Well I have trained under Severus for Occlumency. Since I was a Horcrux, and through the scar on my forehead, Voldemort and I had a mental connection, unbeknownst to us until my 5th year. I began to see visions, and he would plant them into my mind.

**Ron:** I think he messed with more than your vision that year. You were so angsty that year.

**Harry:** Yeah, thanks for that Ron. But really, Luna helped me get over all that. She said that Voldemort probably wanted me to feel isolated and alone, so it would be easier for him to get to me.

**Xenophilius:** I'm glad my Luna could help you out with that. Now enough of this serious talk. I want to know what you have planned for this upcoming year. What are some things you're genuinely interested in?

**Luna: **Well I know I'll be working here after I graduate Hogwarts this year. I'll still write articles when I'm not doing homework, Daddy.

**Xenophilius:** I know you will, and I bet our readers will be just as loyal to you as they are to me.

**Neville: **I'm going back to Hogwarts, and I believe we all are. I was made Head Boy this year. It would be pretty awesome if I could come back to that school and teach Herbology, once Professor Sprout retires of course. But I love working with plants. But I think my goal for now is to become a Healer.

**Ginny:** Well it would be pretty cool to play for a Quidditch team, but I think I might go into Healing as well. You can only play Quidditch for so long, and I want something that will always be there for me.

**Hermione: **Well as Neville said we are going back to school, and I will be helping Neville as Head Girl. I would be very interested in going into the Law department in the Ministry, trying to change some of the outdated laws that are still out there.

**Ron: **Like my sister said, it would be awesome to play Quidditch professionally, but that's not going to last forever. But I think I am leaning more toward going into the Auror office.

**Harry: **I'm with Ron on this one. I figure that now if I go after bad guys I should have some actual training this time.

_(group chuckles)_

**Xenophilius: **Well, that's all the time we have for today. I wish you all the best for your endeavors, and I extend the invitation to come back here whenever you wish.

**A/N: I know this is a week late, because I had no internet access this past week, until I got back to school. So this chapter is going up and the chapter that is normally supposed to be up will be there this week either tonight or tomorrow = )**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7:** **Return of the Grangers**

At this point in the summer, Hermione had been becoming increasingly more anxious about getting her parents back. Mr. Weasley had told them last week that they would just have to wait until things slowed down at the Ministry, so an Auror could accompany them.

"Dad, Harry and I'll go with her," Ron said one Thursday night after dinner. "I think we're all perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves."

"I'm not saying that you can't, but I would really rather prefer it if you had an Auror go with you," Arthur said calmly.

"Well, since they've _really_ proved themselves in the past now haven't they," Ron muttered, remembering the battle in the Department of Mysteries, when only the Aurors in the Order came to help until after Voldemort left.

"Don't talk back to your father," Molly scolded.

"I have an idea, actually," Arthur said, now standing up from the large wooden table. "I'll go with Hermione. Kingsley actually said I could take a few days off if I wished."

"Oh," Hermione cried, "Mr. Weasley, I can't possibly ask you to do that! We could get them and be back within a few days."

"No I really don't mind," Arthur said, a note of finality sounding in his voice. "I'll go with you tomorrow."

"Well, Harry," Ron said, getting up from the kitchen table and stretching his arms above his head, nearly touching the ceiling. "We'd better get going. We'll need to pack."

"You two aren't going!" Molly said rather loudly.

"Oh, yes I am," Ron said angrily. "Do you honestly think I'm going to let my girlfriend go to a foreign country without me, with Death Eaters still on the loose? I left once and I'm never doing that again." Hermione was torn inside. She thought it was really sweet that he was defending her and wanting to be with her, but then she was kind of angry thinking that he thought she was unable to take care of herself.

"Well as unhappy as I am that Hermione is going, I can at least stop my own children from going," Molly said getting up from the table and looking up at her youngest son, who now really towered over her.

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself…" Ron began but Hermione put a hand on his arm.

"Ron, I can't ask you to do this," she pleaded.

"Of course you can," Ron said calmly – loosing all the anger from his mother – looking down at her, dead in the eyes. "That's what I'm here for."

"No," she said softly. Ron bent down to kiss her forehead, and whispered in her ear. "I'll talk to my Dad tonight, don't worry."

Hermione looked up at the clock, and, once realizing that it was already ten o'clock, told the group that she was going to head off to bed. Molly shooed all but Ginny away from the kitchen, so they could clean up. Ron, Harry, and Arthur went into the living room. Shortly after, Harry went up to bed, leaving Ron with his father.

"Can I talk to you?" Ron asked.

"Sure," Arthur said, gesturing to the couch for both of them to sit down. Once they were settled in he began. "What's on your mind son?"

"Look Dad, I understand how you want us to be safe, I really do. But I think Hermione and I need to do this on our own. She would really like for me to meet them. She even knows exactly how to remove the memory charm, since she cast one that she modified. We honestly don't need any help," Ron said, hoping that his father would see reason.

"I know, son," the elder Weasley said, taking his glasses off and cleaning them on a corner of his shirt. "Look, your mother and I just don't want anything to happen to you two."

"We'll apparate to Australia and act like Muggles the rest of the way. We'll act like a couple on holiday."

"Here's my deal for you," his father said quietly, leaning over closer to his youngest son. "If you get up and out of the house before seven, I'll deal with your mother, smooth things over."

Ron's jaw dropped. His father was willfully offering to go head to head with his red headed, hot tempered, wife. "Are you serious?" Ron asked.

"Yes, now go tell Hermione," Arthur urged.

Ron didn't need to be told twice. He thanked his father profusely and went to tell his girlfriend the good news. He walked down the hallway, after he announced that he was 'going to bed', but made a pit stop at Ginny's room. He knocked lightly, "Hermione, it's me," he whispered though the crack in the door. Ron heard the old camp bed squeak as she got up and made her way over to the door.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Give me a minute?" he nodded. She closed the door and got her housecoat to put on over her pajamas. She opened the door more fully this time to allow the gangly red head to enter. She pulled the robe tighter around her, not wanting Ron to see her in what she really wore to bed: small silk shorts and a very snug tank top. She would show him eventually, maybe on their little 'vacation'.

"What is it, Ron?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"My Dad said that if we are out of the house by seven tomorrow morning that he'll deal with my mum. We can go on the trip, no auror's, or anything."

"Are you serious?" Hermione whispered loudly, her eyes lit up at the prospect of being alone with Ron, for possibly a few days. And, as a bonus, he would finally be meeting her parents.

"Yeah, can you believe it?" Ron exclaimed.

Instead of a verbal response, Hermione reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him. He picked her up, when they broke apart, and spun her around in triumph. She squealed loudly, and puller herself to her Weasley. Ginny ended up walking in on them snogging.

"OI! I don't want to see my brother snogging my best mate; in my room no less," Ginny snapped in feigned anger, she had finally been able to turn the tables on Ron, since he had always bugged her about snogging Harry around him.

"Alright, alright, calm down!" Ron said, holding his hands up in defeat. He gave Hermione a quick kiss goodnight before scooting from the room.

"So you're going?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah"

"Just be careful," she said, hugging her best friend.

"I will don't worry," Hermione tried to placate her friend. "I'll have Ron with me."

"That's what worries me," Ginny said, and both girls erupted into giggles.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione had packed her small beaded bag, which still had the undetectable extension charm on it from last year, and went upstairs to wake up Ron at 6:30. He was always so grumpy in the morning that she dreaded going to see him, but she knew she had to just grit her teeth and do it. When she reached the room, she was greeted with a very pleasant surprise. Both boys were up and discussing possible strategies for getting her parents back.

"Ron?" Hermione asked quietly. He looked up and smile at her. He ushered her in and closed the door behind her.

"Harry?" she started. "Are you coming with us as well?"

"Nah," he said. "I can't go, because if I go, then Ginny will want to go. And she's underage, so she can't go."

"He's given me a few ideas about how to get your parents back," Ron said proudly.

"Awesome, but come on, we need to go. You can tell me all about them when we get to the hotel if you want to," she said quickly. "We really need to leave though." Ron handed her his bag that he was instructed to pack. "Have you eaten anything?"

"Yeah, I snuck some food up here last night," he assured her. "Don't worry; I can take care of myself."

"Great, let's go. We need to stop at the bank first though," she said quietly. She grabbed his hand and led him from the room. "Bye Harry."

"Bye you two, good luck," he said to their retreating backs.

Hermione apparated them to an alleyway a block away from the back. She went in and retrieved 500 pounds.

"Oh, hello dear, we haven't seen you here in quite a while," the clerk at the front desk said.

"Yes, well, I guess I spent too much time away from home at boarding school," Hermione joked lightly.

"You parents were always going on about how smart you were. Where's they been lately?"

"They took a year off to vacation in Australia," Hermione said, little white lies on the tip of her tongue.

"It's so beautiful down there," the clerk commented. "So how much do you need to take out?"

"Uh, 500 pounds, I'm going to visit them," she said, politely making conversation.

"Sure, I'll be right back with it," the clerk told Hermione brightly before bustling away, back to the safe. When she returned, she gave Hermione an envelope with the money in it, and they said their goodbyes. Hermione greeted Ron, who was leaning up against a wall, his hands shoved in his pockets; 'Merlin he looks sexy!' she thought.

"You all ready?" he asked, breaking her silent reverie.

"Yeah, all set," she replied, before digging in her pocket for a picture. She showed him the photo of a sandy beach. "This is where we're going."

"It's beautiful," Ron whispered. Hermione put her arm around his and turned slightly, she was to the point where she only made quite pops when she apparated. When they both opened their eyes, a setting sun greeted them. It was one of the most beautiful sights either one of them had ever seen. All Hermione could do was sigh; all the yellows, oranges, reds, blues, pinks and purples. Ron couldn't even focus of the shy because all he could look at was Hermione; noticing how all the colors played off her chestnut brown hair. She didn't notice him quietly step behind her, slipping his arms around her waist, putting his chin on her head. They stood like that, together, for a good twenty minutes, watching the sun skink steadily lower in the sky before Hermione stepped out of her stupor.

"Ron, we need to see where they live," she said.

"Okay," he murmured into her hair. She untangled herself from him and slipped her hand into his. They walked off into the village. They stopped a couple on the street and asked about her parents.

"Do you know where the Wilkins' live? We're old family friends," Hermione explained.

"Umm…" the woman asked, looking at her husband. " I think they live down there." The woman indicated a small light green rancher on the corner of a small intersection.

"Thanks you so much," Hermione said, smiling appreciatively. The couple walked away, leaving her and Ron to finish their walk down the street. They peered into the window of the rancher and a pang of guilt hit Hermione. Her parents were sitting down, eating dinner, and laughing; not a care in the world, not knowing that they had a daughter.

Ron put his arms around her and she cried into his chest. All the feelings of sadness, guilt, and relief swam over her. Ron just let her cry, standing there, watching her parents for about twenty minutes.

"Come on, lets go find someplace to sleep for the night," Ron whispered into her ear. Hermione pulled way and Ron brushed her tears away. He gave her a quick gentle kiss on the lips before leading her down the street to a small hotel. Hermione went to the counter to check in while Ron looked at the stationary photographs on the walls.

"Come on, love," Hermione said, beckoning him to join her. She led them up to the third and topmost floor of the building. They had a rather large sitting room, two single beds, and a spacious bathroom. Ron went to check out the bathroom while Hermione went into the bedroom.

"Ron, do you mind if I modify the beds slightly?" Hermione asked loudly.

"Not at all, go ahead," he yelled back from the bathroom.

Once he finished the work in the bathroom, unpacking all their toiletries, he headed back into the bedroom to see what Hermione had done to the bedroom. He dropped the small beaded bag when he entered the small room; it fell with a thud that was very disproportionate to its size. She had transfigured both of the beds into a very large California King-sized bed.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked warily, knowing full well that they only shared a bed once, just after the final battle, but they really hadn't talked about doing anything like that again.

"I don't want us to do anything, I just need to be near someone," she said softly. He nodded in agreement and bent to pick up the bag. Then he proceeded to unpack all of their things, separating their stuff into piles. Hermione noticed how the tips of his ears turned red when he unpacked her undergarments and stuff for tomorrow.

"Oh, you don't have to unpack my stuff," she said gently, as he pulled out lacy white underwear.

"I don't mind honestly," Ron replied, his cheeks turning a slight shade of pink, progressing slowing into the full 'Weasley Red Blush'. "I've seen it all before. Well… except perhaps this." He indicated the while lacy knickers.

"Well, I'm entitled to have cute underwear, but how have you seen them all before?" she asked, very curious to why.

"In the tent," he said sheepishly.

"Oh," said Hermione, now having a blush slowly creep down her face. She laid out their clothes on the chest at the foot of their bed, with the exception of their pajamas. They had no idea how long they were going to be down here searching for the missing Grangers. Hermione had managed to procure two small vials of dreamless sleep potion that was enough for ten hours of sleep. With that, they would only have a slight bit of jet lag. She wanted to be up around eight, so she had a few hours to get ready. Hermione headed into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. Ron took this momentary absence to change into his as well. His were red plaid pants and a black wife beater; he figured he' be respectful and put on a shirt. When Hermione returned, his jaw dropped. She had on short purple silk shorts and a matching tank top.

"Merlin, Hermione. It's a good thing you don't wear that around the common room at school," he breathed.

"And why ever not?" she asked.

"Because I would have quite a difficult time keeping all the other guys off of you," he said.

"Oh," Hermione said, she was thoroughly embarrassed, to say the least. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagines guys thinking that she was pretty. "Well, thanks."

Hermione clambered into the bed, grabbed her book off the nightstand, and began reading to take her mind off things. Ron rummaged in their bag for a quill and a spare bit of parchment. He began to write out plans for their next adventure to get her parents back. After a while Hermione started to re-read sentences, so she just stopped.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?" he said, looking down at her.

"What are we going to do?" He broke down all the parts of his plans, since he had time to make several of them, and she opted for the one where they looked for them on the beach, and if not they would storm the house later that night.

"Thanks for coming with me. It really means a lot," she said quietly.

"You never have to ask. I never want to be apart from your ever again," he said seriously.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Hermione asked before uncorking her bottle of dreamless sleep potion and downing it in one swallow.

"Anything, love," he replied comfortingly.

"Can you hold me tonight, like that night?"

"Of course," Ron downed his potion as well, putting his quill and parchment down on the bedside table. He scooted over closer to her and snuggled up behind her, putting his arm protectively around her middle. She wriggled back, closer to him. Soon after, the potion's effect took hold, plunging them into hours of blissful, dreamless sleep.

Meanwhile back at home…

Harry and Ginny headed downstairs, having already been woken up by their roommates. Thankfully Mrs. Weasley was not awake yet. Harry decided to surprise Ginny, as well as all the others who ate here for breakfast, by cooking. He made pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. Ginny just sat at the kitchen table, at a complete loss for words.

"Where did you learn how to cook?" she asked, completely entranced by the fact that he wasn't really using magic, except to summon needed items.

"Well," he began casually. "When I was at the Dursley's, they always made me cook for them. I was nearly seven before they completely trusted me around the stove and frying pan. I didn't like doing it then, though. Here I can, because I enjoy making food for my family.

"Oh," she said as he filled her plate with delicious food. She took a bite out of the eggs. "It's nearly as good at mum's."

"What's nearly as good as mine?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she walked into the kitchen having heard a commotion, still wearing her old blue dressing gown.

"Harry's cooking," Ginny stated. Mrs. Weasley had an odd look on her face.

"Oh, dear, you don't have to cook," she said almost pleadingly.

"Don't worry; I like to cook, really. The Dursley's made me cook all the time."

"Oh, you poor boy," Mrs. Weasley cried, hurrying over to him and pulling him into a tight hug. He fixed her a plate, forcing her to not help him, and she rather enjoyed his cooking. George soon popped over to say hello, then Charlie, Bill, Fleur, and Percy eventually made their way down; every agreeing that Harry was a phenomenal cook.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Those ten hours that the couple slept seemed to just fly by. No sooner had Ron and Hermione fallen asleep in each others arms, they awoke facing one another. Ron's left leg was wrapped around both of hers; her face was nuzzled into his chest. He woke up first, rubbing his forehead against her thick bush of hair.

"Hermione," he whispered against her temple, before placing a soft kiss there. She stirred. He kissed her cheek and whispered her name again. She groaned. Ron got a wicked idea; he tugged gently on her ear lobe with her teeth, sucking on it lightly.

"'S too early, Ron," she muttered sleepily, curling herself closer into his chest, wrapping her legs around his. "Go back to bed."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you would be telling me to go back to bed," he mused. "But it's time to get up."

"Oh bloody hell," she moaned before pushing herself away from him. He groaned at the coldness he felt as she moved away from the bed.

"Language missy," he chided.

"Ugh…" she grunted back as she headed into the bathroom with a small bundle of clothes she had retrieved from the dresser. While she took a scalding hot shower, she even took notice that the water circled the drain the opposite way than it did at home. The hot water really helped to wake her up, and rid her of the final side effects of the dreamless sleeping potion. Hermione had gotten the most sleep than she had ever gotten in her life; nearly twenty hours all together. When she stepped out of the shower, her skin was slightly pink from the heat, but quickly dried herself off. She put on a bikini, some short shorts, and a midriff showing tank top. She kept her unruly hair tightly wound up in a towel as she walked back into the bedroom.

For the second time in twenty-four hours Ron's jaw dropped. He had never seen her like this; never once could he remember Hermione ever showing this much skin. He shook his head, murmured his typical "Bloody hell," and strode off to the bathroom to take his shower.

"Merlin Hermione! How hot do you take your showers?" Ron spluttered while being hit with a wall of steam that he been trapped in the tiny room.

"I like hot showers, they help wake me up in the morning," she replied, now drying her hair with the towel. She brushed her hair so it was nearly straight; which only happened when it was wet or magically treated, and did a quick drying spell. She took a rubber band and contained the, now bushy mess at the nape of her neck. Ron came out of the bathroom shortly after, with only a towel around his waist. His hair was still wet, and, altogether, it was a very sexy image. He mumbled something about forgetting his clothes. Hermione walked into the bathroom again to brush her teeth. Ron joined her shortly after. She took time to notice that he had cleaned the bathroom so that no one could possibly tell that they had used the room at all.

"Okay, you get two towels and I'll put them in my big bag. We're going to the beach!" she announced happily. She looked at Ron, who grimaced. He had forgotten to pack a pair of trunks. He stood there in a pair of kaki cargo pants, and a green t-shirt. "You can go in your shorts if you want."

"Alright then," he said. They repacked their beaded bag and put it in the bottom of her large beach bag, and set off to check out of the hotel and get breakfast at a local diner.

Ron and Hermione headed down to the beach after their breakfast and went searching for her parents, enjoying the scenery. Before they left the hotel room, they had cast a charm on each other that acted like a long lasting sun block. They strolled down the beach, searching, and found her parents about a half-hour later. Hermione nearly broke down and cried right then and there; they looked so peaceful, not a care in the world, no knowledge of what the war had done to their world. Ron set up their blanket about twenty feet away from her parents'. Hermione stripped her tank off and her shorts as well, revealing a very small brown bikini. It was really dark in contrast to her pale skin. Ron didn't notice right away, seeing as he was in the process of removing his own shirt. She had lain down on her towel, stomach up, with her eyes closed when he looked down at her.

"Bloody hell!"

"You shouldn't swear Ronald," she chided, chuckling slightly at his reaction.

"You can't expect me not to curse when you are wearing something like that," he pointed out, gesturing to her bathing suit.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" She asked, now looking up at his bare chest.

"Nothing, I mean… I like it. It's just… I've never see you act like this."

"Like what?"

"Letting loose, relaxing, showing this much skin," he blushed as he lay down on the blanket next to her. She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezed reassuringly, and let go. They lay there, soaking up fun for an hour or two, reveling in the warmth they felt from it.

Ron got up after a while and unceremoniously picked her up. She protested the entire way down to the water. He trudged into the water until he was waist deep, and let her down. The water was rather warm. She wiggled her toes down into the sand and felt it wash over her and between her toes, like silk. Suddenly she felt something wiggle back against her toes. She looked down and saw a brownish claw reaching toward her toes. Hermione screamed and jumped on to Ron, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, clinging on for dear life.

He chuckled and held her close, one arm around her hips, and one arm around her back. "What is it?" He looked down and saw the crab claw sinking back beneath the surface of the sand. "Don't worry, it's harmless."

"I know, but it still freaks me out," she admitted. She looked at Ron; his eyes were shining a brighter blue than she had ever seen. "Thanks for saving me."

"You're welcome," he murmured, looking at her, fierceness behind his eyes. She leaned in and kissed him gently. He readily returned the kiss, tightening his grip around her hips and moving his other hand to her hair. Subtly Ron moved deeper into the water. Hermione threaded her fingers through his soft, thick, red hair, pulling him closer to her. He gasped, which caused her to deepen the kiss, slipping her tongue in his mouth, playing sweetly with him. His hand, which was under the water, moved down to support her bottom. When the need for oxygen became apparent, they broke apart. Ron looked over her head, only to see her parents getting up and getting ready to leave.

"Er, we have to go," he whispered.

"Why?" Hermione murmured while kissing his neck lightly.

"Because your parents are leaving," he said, lowering her so they could walk back to their towels.

"Don't you dare let me down," Hermione yelped, tightening the grip she had around his neck and waist. "You will not let me get attacked again."

"Fine," he chuckled as he readjusted his grip. He carried her out of the water, one arm around her back, and one hooked under her legs. Various people gawked at them as he settled her on the blanket. They giggled and packed up everything.

The Wilkins were halfway to their house when Hermione and Ron finally caught up with them. Hermione cursed herself for doing what she was about to do to them. She set a trip jinx on both of her parents simultaneously, causing them to fall face first into the concrete. Ron and she ran up to the fallen couple quickly. Hermione pointed her wand at each of them in turn, muttering the counter-curse to her memory charm. She did all of this so fast, that even Dumbledore would have been impressed. Richard and Emma Granger were looking up at the teens in confusion.

"Hermione? What's going on?" Richard asked.

Hermione just stood there, tears cascading down her face; so Ron answered for her. "Are you two hurt?"

"I think I did something to my ankle," Emma said, wincing when she tried to move it.

"Don't move it," Ron warned. "I'll carry you to your house if you'd like, or we could apparate?"

"I think it would be better if we apparated," Emma said smiling up at him. "I don't think it would fly well if a handsome teenager carried me down the street."

Ron blushed, but picked her up anyway. Hermione helped her father to his feet and held his arm tightly. With two small, soft pops, they reappeared in the Wilkins/Granger household. Ron set Emma down on the couch.

"'Mione, can you give me a hand? I'm not nearly as good at fixing bones, only splinting them," Ron asked.

"S—Sure," she replied shakily. Hermione fixed her mother's ankle, which was fractured, and Ron conjured a splint, and wrapped it the Muggle way.

"Okay," Richard announced. "Now that we're all settled, would you mind explaining, Hermione?"

"First I want to know who this handsome young man is. He's really sweet," Emma asked eagerly.

"Oh, sorry," Ron started. "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley. I believe you met my parents a few times."

"Yes of course," Emma said, reaching to shake his hand. Richard did the same but before he let go of Ron's hand, Hermione spoke up at last.

"He's my boyfriend," she said quietly, almost talking to herself more than anyone else.

The grip on Ron's hand tightened for a moment, then released. The tips of Ron's ears turned pink. "Er… that too," he chuckled.

"Okay," Richard said. "Let's hear some explanations."

Hermione sat there in silence so Ron began. "I guess I'll tell the story then. Hermione had you guys under a memory charm since the beginning of last summer."

"But why?"

"Well you know all about Voldemort right?" Ron asked. They nodded. "Well he came back almost worse than before about three years ago. He sent one of our teachers, who we thought was on the dark side, to kill out headmaster."

"Dumbledore's dead?" Richard exclaimed, cutting off Ron's explanation.

"Yes, Severus Snape, our potions teacher, killed him. So that's why 'Mione did this to you guys, to protect you. Since Harry, 'Mione, and I were on the top of Voldemort's hit list, we had to get you guys away from everything, to prevent him coming to use you against us. The Ministry of Magic passed a new law, saying that all Muggle-born witches and wizards had to go and register. The ministry was taken over by Voldemort at this point, so he told people that all Muggle-borns had stolen magic."

"But Hermione would never steal magic!" Emma cried.

"I know, but she never went. She was at my house for my oldest brother's wedding. Harry joined us just in time for the wedding and that didn't go as planned. The Death Eaters and Ministry Officials gate crashed the reception party, and we had to get out of there. Eventually Harry took us to his house."

"He has a house? But he's only eighteen right?" Richard said.

"It's unplottable, but it's in London," Ron iterated. "But we holed up there for a while, plotting how we could overthrow the ministry and get the horcruxes."

"What's a Horcrux?"

"A part of Voldemort's soul," Hermione whispered.

"What do you mean a part of his soul?"

"Meaning, his actual soul. Every time he killed someone, his soul was split. He had the idea that he could become immortal by concealing his soul in inanimate objects. Every time Harry tried to kill him in the past, he couldn't. There were seven parts of his soul, just waiting to be destroyed. Harry destroyed Voldemort's old school diary, and Dumbledore destroyed his grandfather's ring. We were after a locket of his ancestor, a cup from one of the school founders, a diadem from another school founder, his snake, and himself. Ron got the locket, I did the cup, a dangerous sort of fire got the diadem, and our friend Neville killed Nagini, his snake.

"The final battle was at Hogwarts, last month, and we went to fight. Ron and I fought along side of Harry, but it was him in the end that killed Voldemort. Now we can all live in peace, as before," Hermione finished, her voice only quavering slightly. Ron was so proud of her; reliving her past for her parents, whom she hadn't seen in a year.

"Well, I mean, I don't really know what to say about all of that," Emma said quietly, just staring at her daughter.

Hermione broke down, tears streaming down her face again. Ron sprung into action, pulling her closer to him. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around his back. He whispered to her. "I'm so proud of you. Everything is going to be alright. I—I love you."

She pulled back and looked him in the eye; she could see the sincerity behind his eyes. "I love you, too," she murmured as his thumbs brushed the tears off her cheeks, she turned away from him and hugged her parents.

"How about I go knock up some lunch?" Ron suggested before heading into the kitchen. He let Hermione reconnect with her parents. He slowly found all the ingredients to make grilled cheese sandwiches. Ron only used magic to summon ingredients and heat things. About fifteen minutes later Ron was finished and began to clean up. Hermione came in and watched him. He finally noticed her, leaning against the far counter.

"Hey," he said.

"I never knew you could cook," she said quietly.

"What you don't know about me, 'Mione, could quite possibly fill a book," Ron said seriously **(bonue points to those who know where this line is from = P)**. He pulled open the door to the living room. "The sandwiches are ready if you want to come and eat."

The Grangers joined him in the kitchen. "I think that you two told us the watered down version of everything that happened, am I right?"

"Yeah," Hermione said sheepishly.

"Well I for one would like to know all about what happened," Emma said.

"After lunch," Hermione said, now grabbing a sandwich. After she took a bite, her face broke out into a smile. "These are really good Ron!"

"Mum tried to teach Ginny and I how to cook when we were younger, when she never would let us go out with the rest of my brothers."

"So how many siblings to you have, son," Richard asked.

"Before the war I had five brothers, and a sister, but one of the twins, Fred, was killed in the final battle."

"Oh, I am so sorry dear," Emma replied. She limped over to him and gave him a big hug. He marveled at the woman who was now wrapped around him, she was even shorter than Hermione, barely coming up to the middle of his chest.

"Thanks," he muttered, returning the hug.

They all ate their lunch in relative silence and Ron cleaned up the table once they were all done. In the end they journeyed back to the living room. Hermione sat so close to Ron that she was practically sitting in his lap. She held his hand as they explained everything that happened over the past year. The Grangers didn't interrupt the teens once, just absorbed everything that they were told.

"Wow," Emma said quietly, now holding her husband's hand.

"It's a lot to take in, believe me," Ron said. "It's still hard for us, and we've lived through it, for a whole year. You heard it all in about five hours."

"It was a lot," Richard said. "I can't believe you three when through all of that."

Ron looked down at his watch, 7:00. "We should get going; Mum's probably already up and cooking, and livid at dad."

"Sure, but how are we getting home?" Richard asked.

"We'll apparate," Ron said. "How's your foot Mrs. Granger?"

"Please, call me Emma, and its fine. You and my daughter made a good team."

"Just wait until you meet the third member of our team. The papers call us the Golden Trio," Hermione said, chuckling lightly.

"Yeah, everyone who isn't really family, or really close friends, calls us that," Ron said. "Sometimes they do just to take the mickey."

"Let's go now, Dad, I'll take you. Ron, you take my mother," Hermione iterated. Ron nodded and asked Emma to take hold of his arm. Hermione grabbed her father and they apparated to just outside of the Burrow.

"Wow," Richard said, shaking his head slightly. "I'll never get used to that feeling."

"No one ever really does," Ron assured him.

"This is where you live?" Emma asked, looking at the Burrow in complete reverie.

Ron looked a bit embarrassed but Hermione's hand on his arm calmed him down significantly. "Yup, this is home," Hermione said without thinking. The three others looked at her oddly.

"You really think this is like home?" Ron gestured to their surroundings.

"Well, yeah," she said. "When ever I wasn't at Hogwarts, it always seemed like I was here." She felt bad that she expressed this sentiment in front of her parents.

"I'm glad you feel that way," Ron murmured when he hugged her. "This is the Burrow everyone."

"It's wonderful," Emma commented.

"Let's go," Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and they walked inside. "Mum's probably ready to kill me right about now."

"Why?" Emma asked, slightly confused.

"Because my father told me that we could go without supervision of an Auror, and mum didn't want us doing that. He said he would deal with her so we could come and get you guys," Ron said. "Mum, we're home!"

They heard a crashing of dishes breaking on the kitchen floor. "Ronald Bilius Weasley! Where _have_ you been?" Molly yelled.

Ron and Hermione just stood there, acting like this was completely normal, which it really was in the Weasley household. Emma and Richard, however, cringed when they heard the dreaded full name being used.

"She does this all the time," Hermione said, sighing lightly.

"I already said I was going to Australia with Hermione!" Ron yelled back.

"Hermione Jane Granger!" Molly yelled as she finally extricated herself from the kitchen. The Grangers looked at her daughter but Hermione just shrugged and said, "I'm just like one of her kids, I get yelled at just the same."

"You two went to Australia without an Auror?"

"Yes, Mum, and look who's here. We're not hurt at all," Ron said, gesturing to his and Hermione's bodies.

"That's –," Molly began again, but when she caught sight of the Grangers she stopped immediately. "Oh, Richard, Emma, hello."

"Hello, Molly, it's good to see you," Emma said cheerily, hugging her.

"Welcome back, you two must be hungry. Come on in and we'll get you some food. I'm sure my son forgot his manners and didn't offer you any food," Molly said as she ushered them into the kitchen.

"Actually Ron cooked us lunch, grilled cheese," Richard said.

"See mum, the cooking lessons actually paid off. I'm not going to be completely worthless when I move out on my own," Ron said, blushing slightly.

"I can see the family resemblance now, more than ever," Richard commented. "Red hair, freckles, and a love to get everyone fed."

They all chuckled and sat down for a nice breakfast. Arthur came stumbling into the kitchen, still half-asleep and looking a little worse for wear. "So dad, what did mum do to you?" Ron asked.

"I think your father is going to be spending some quality time with the couch," Molly said, smiling to herself.

"Ouch, sorry dad," Hermione said. It was commonplace for Hermione and Harry to call Arthur and Molly mum and dad, but the Grangers were taken aback at this.

"What?" Richard asked.

"Well," Hermione stated nervously. "I guess… not saying that you two were bad parents, but… she said I could feel free to call her mum, and I guess I just picked up on it."

"It's just a bit shocking, dear," Emma said. The rest of the Weasley clan chose to walk in this moment and relieve Hermione of this awkwardness; they always had a knack for doing this, and she was forever grateful for it. Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, and George all came down the stairs, ready to go to work. There were many greetings around the table, and the Grangers were having a hard time trying to keep up with who was who, since they all had red hair and freckles. Ginny and Harry were the last to come down to greet the new additions to the house this morning.

"How'd everything go?" Harry asked Ron as he hugged Hermione.

"Fine mate," Ron said and he shook Harry's hand. Emma and Richard looked at these four teens and were amazed at how they didn't really act like teens, but young adults. Perhaps it was because people mature faster in the wizarding world, or the fact that the teens had been through more that any normal person should ever go through in a lifetime.

"Mum, Dad, this is Harry, and Ginny," Hermione introduced. Harry gave Emma a hug and Richard a firm handshake. Ginny did the same thing.

"It's nice to finally meet you all," Emma said cheerfully. "Hermione speaks so highly of all of you, in her letters. I swear, all she talked about when she was home was the Weasleys and Harry Potter."

The group chuckled and Hermione turned the famous 'Weasley Red'. Ron hugged her tightly and said, "That's really sweet, you talk about me."

"You prat," she said jokingly.

"I'm so wounded," he said, gripping his chest where his heart was. She kissed him lightly on the lips to soothe him. Her parents looked at them in shock, but the Weasley's, having been around it for quite a while now, were quite used to it. But Hermione still had the descency to blush when she relized that she was doing this in front of her parents. That word felt so good to think about in a positive way after all this time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8: Interview with the Daily Prophet**

"Come on, Harry," Hermione urged. "You know we need to get this over with. I know she'll do anything we ask, since I have her secret."

"How do you know that she hasn't registered by now?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Because I checked," she said simply. "And she could still go to Azkaban since she didn't tell people about it for years."

"Man, you're evil, Hermione," Ron said, giving her a brief side-hug. "She's right, let's just go now, so we can have the rest of the day to ourselves."

"Fine," Harry groaned, getting off his bed, which was still in Ron's room. He went over to his trunk and put on his trainers and they all headed downstairs. "I'll just floo Neville and Luna, you two get Ginny."

"No, we'll floo those two, and you go get Ginny," Ron said, pointedly.

"Fine," Harry huffed. He knew that Ginny was sleeping, and that she wouldn't be a happy camper if she was woken up, but they needed to get together and be at the Ministry in an hour. He knocked lightly on her door, just to see if she was already awake. No answer. He knocked a bit louder. Still no answer. He turned the doorknob and found that it was open. When he stepped into the room, his nostrils were filled with the scent of Ginny, strawberries and wild flowers. He saw her sprawled out across her bed, limbs hanging haphazardly from her covers.

"Ginny," he said quietly, slowly approaching her bed. She stirred but didn't wake.

"Ginny," he said a little louder. She peeked open her eyes blearily and groaned.

"Come back later, Harry, I want to sleep," she said groggily.

"But if I let you sleep you won't have as much time to get ready to go the Ministry for the interview," he said.

"Oh, damn, that's today?" she said frantically. She leapt from the bed and began to run to her closet looking for something to wear. She failed to notice that she was sleeping in one of his old t-shirt, only his old t-shirt, which fell to about the middle of her thighs.

Harry chuckled and watched her run around her room in little clothing, and couldn't help himself but watch. She turned around suddenly and screeched for him to get out until she was descent. He complied and walked back down to the kitchen. They waited for a half hour for everyone to come to the kitchen. Neville and Luna showed up a few minutes before Ginny came down.

"So are we all descent?" Harry teasingly asked Ginny.

"Yes mister smarty pants," she replied. "Let's go!"

All six of them apparated to the area outside the visitor's entrance to the Ministry, and they all piled into the phone booth. 6-2-4-4-2, Harry dialed and they started the familiar descent into the Ministry of Magic. They presented their wands for registration and took a lift to go up to Kingsley's office.

"Ahh, I thought you six would be arriving soon," Kingsley boomed. "Come on in and sit down, I'll call Rita."

"Hermione, I hope this works," Harry whispered.

"It will, don't worry. I've got it all sorted out," she assured him. "Just let me do the talking."

"Alright then," Harry agreed. A few minutes later Rita and her photographer Bozo walked into the Minister's office. She still looked as sinister as ever and Bozo was still practically drooling over her. This interview could make Rita's career if she spun things the right words.

"Long time no see, Miss Granger," she said acidly.

"I trust you hoped you'd never have to see me again?" Hermione returned pleasantly.

"Well, let's just get this thing done, shall we?" Rita said.

"We have some terms and conditions that you must comply to if you want this interview done," Hermione said smoothly.

"What terms?" she asked.

"Well for starters I'll need to have your parchment and quill, which ever ones you plan on using today," Hermione began.

"Minister, are you going to put up with these _children_, making requests and running things in your office?" Rita cried.

"Well these 'children' as you call them, save the wizarding world, so you will do what they ask, or I shall have to ask you to leave," Kingsley said politely.

"Fine, here," Rita shoved her supplies toward the bushy haired girl. Hermione tapped her wand on each.

"This will ensure that you only print what we want you to print. You are not allowed to add anymore that the facts, not juicy rumors, or whatnot. And the quill is charmed to not write anything if you ask something too personal."

"Fine," Rita spat. "But you gave that personal interview with the Quibbler.

"They are our friends, you are just a writer for the Prophet," Hermione said snidely.

Rita harrumphed.

"And we get to direct all the pictures that are taken," she said.

"Whoa! That's my area," Bozo complained.

"Shut up you," Rita spat. "Let's just get this done with."

"I'm glad you saw it our way," Hermione smiled.

Rita: This is Rita Skeeter, with the Daily Prophet, special correspondent, here with some of the hero's from the final battle between He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Harry: I think it would be easier to call him Voldemort, since he's dead and all.

Ron: And to quote one of my favorite people: 'Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself'.

Rita: Very well (hesitation) Voldemort. Now what roles did you all play?

Luna: Well I guess it's obvious what Harry did, but all of us were there and we fought along side him.

Rita: Was there any doubts in any of your minds that Harry would not win the battle?

Neville: Now I've been friends with Harry since first year, and I can't say that I've not had my share of doubts, but I knew he would, call it a gut feeling. He's faced Voldemort so many times that it seems like a second nature.

Harry: Thanks Neville. You've always been there, ever since the little full-body bind incident in first year.

Neville: I actually forgot about that. You always had a knack of getting in trouble.

Ron: I know I left our little group for a while, but now I know that it needed to happen. Everything in the war has happened for a reason, and I don't think the outcome would have been the same if everything was changed.

Rita: Well, what were you doing while you were on the run?

Harry: We were hunting for horcruxes.

Rita: And what is a Horcrux?

Hermione: A Horcrux is a piece of someone's soul, encased in an object of meaning to the person.

Rita: And how would you make a Horcrux?

Harry: I am not telling anyone that, because I don't know how to either, but it would cause someone to get the big idea that they can become immortal, and we all know what became of the last person who tried that.

Ron: Yeah, he lost to a seventeen year old.

Rita: There were talks going on about possible couples between several of you, care to comment?

Harry: No we would not.

Rita: Fine, next question. There were rumors also floating around that you had died.

Harry: As I already told the Quibbler, I had the killing curse cast at me. But Voldemort saved me.

Rita: What do you mean he saved you?

Ron: Well when Voldemort killed his parents, he then tried to kill an infant Harry. When the curse backfired, a part of his soul was lodged into Harry. So when old Moldy Shorts cast the spell this time, it killed a part of his soul unknowingly.

Rita: Moldy Shorts?

Harry: Well, it's just our little nickname. We got tired of the old one.

Luna: And this one has a better ring to it. It keeps the Crumple Horn Snorkacks away as well.

Rita: What are…? Never mind, I don't want to know. Minister, do you have any comments on the outcome of the final battle?

Kingsley: Well I have to hand it to these children, they did something that most people in this world will never have to encounter, and what only most of us can imagine. They faced the most evil wizard since Grindlewald, and they fare admirably. I heard their version of the story, one they probably don't wish to repeat in full, and I couldn't believe it at first. The way they spoke about it, it could make shivers go up anyone's spine.

Rita: What do you mean?

Kingsley: Well, they spoke of tragedies and their adventures, brushes against death, with a calmness that I've never seen. Most wizards would be in St. Mungo's for life for dealing with all the emotional and mental strain of which these six have had to deal with, Harry especially.

Rita: Well, always trust Potter to come out on top.

Harry: I always will, when it comes to fighting dark wizards.

Rita: Of course you will. Now that you have turned 18, what will you be doing with your life? Anything of interest?

Harry: Well all I know is that I hope to get through my final year of school alive enough to make it into the Auror department.

Rita: So, no one interesting in your life?

Harry: I'd rather not comment on that.

Rita: Fine. What about the rest of you, what are you all planning on doing with your lives?

Ron: I've always wanted to play professional Quidditch, but the Auror program is sounding better and better.

Hermione: I'm probably going to do something in either the Department of Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures or in the Law Department.

Neville: I'm going to be a healer and come up with a cure for the Cruciatus curse victims.

Ginny: And I'm going to help him, along with being a healer.

Luna: I'm going to be running the Quibbler when Daddy wants to retire.

Rita: Well it seems as if you all have your lives picked out for you. What are your thoughts on their career choices Minister?

Kingsley: Well, there chances are as good, if not better, than everyone else's, due to what they have gone through. I wholeheartedly support whatever choices they decided to make in their lives. I know they will make a positive imprint in our lives.

Rita: Thank you all for your time, I hope to be seeing you all in the future.

"Don't count on it," Hermione said sweetly. "Now let's get this picture over with."

"Bozo, come over here and stand, lets get the Minister on the inside, with all the kids surrounding them. Ron can I bring you forward a little bit."

"But now I'm in front of Hermione," Ron pointed out.

"Its fine," Rita said condescendingly.

"No, it's not alright," Harry said threateningly. "She was more than important than you in the final battle, as was everyone here. No one will be neglected, especially by the likes of you."

"O—Okay Mister Potter," Rita stammered. She had never seen the teen this mad before and she didn't fancy him telling everyone what they knew about her. Her sources had told her from the final battle that he was scary when he went one on one with Voldemort, and that nothing could have been more frightening. This young man was calm on the outside and a ball of fury on the inside and she didn't need to provoke him anymore. "Miss Granger, would you kindly stand in front of Mister Potter then."

"Of course," she replied sweetly.

"Now, bunch tighter together, act like you all like each other," she tried to joke, but everyone still had serious looks on their faces. "Tough crowd, then."

"Let's just get this picture over with," Ron snarled slightly.

"Get two, for good measure, Bozo," Rita said.

**FLASH **

**FLASH **

"Well, now that we are all thoroughly blinded, thank you for coming Rita, you may leave," Kingsley said, almost wishing her to leave and never come back into his office. After she and Bozo left, they all turned to the Minister, knowing that he wanted to say something to them.

"Well, all I have to ask is, why?" he said simply.

"Because every time that cow comes near us, all she does is print the wrong things," Ginny huffed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, back when they tri-wizard tournament was being held, she printed that I was dating Harry," Hermione said. "Then when I was talking to Viktor Krum, she said I was cheating on Harry with him."

"But you and Ron were more of a couple then and even now than you and Harry ever could have been. Not to say that Harry is bad, but you were always meant to be with Ron," Kingsley said quickly.  
"From what I've seen."

"I know, but she seemed to be following me around all the time, it was rather annoying," Harry complained.

"I know the feeling, lad. She never wants to leave this place; always wanting me to give a statement or whatever," he said, rubbing his temples. "Don't tell anyone but I really don't like her and I really wish she would never come around here anymore."

"Well I have a way for that to happen," Hermione said deviously.

"Oh really, do tell Miss Granger."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

**RITA SKEETER SACKED FROM DAILY PROPHET **

**Unregistered animagus for years; ruining the reputations of great wizards and witches out of spite**

The headline shown bold from every paper the next day; also there was mention of the interview being her last work that shall ever be written to the public again.

"Revenge is oh so sweet," Hermione cooed.

"I always knew you had a mischievous side to you, love," Ron said.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 the Hogwarts Express**

Their summer had passed by rather quickly, too quickly in their opinion. The majority of the Death Eaters had been caught, only a few were left out in hiding and they were the weaker members anyway. So Molly let Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione out to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies for the upcoming year. She was now quite confident in their abilities to defend themselves; and she didn't want them just running off like Ron and Hermione did when they retrieved her parents. They got all their books required for their seventh year. Ginny was allowed to take her sixth year exams at the Ministry soon after her birthday, and she passed with flying colors, much to everyone's expectations.

They met up with Dean Thomas, who hadn't attended at all last year, Luna, and Neville. They all would be taking their school year over; Luna had to repeat her sixth year because she disappeared after Christmas, and Neville had to repeat seventh year because he went into hiding shortly after the New Year. Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown, and countless others who joined them in the Room of Requirement took their NEWTS at the Ministry; their grades in Defense Against the Dark Arts were off the charts, much to the surprise of the Ministry. They all thought Delores Umbridge wasn't teaching them in combat, but they didn't know about Harry's little DA extracurricular activities. Draco Malfoy would be attending as well, due to the fact that the Ministry pardoned his family. They had sworn, under Veritaserum, that they were trying to get out of the organization, and they didn't fight against the light side during the final battle. They had been terrified of Voldemort. So the whole family was on probation, had to pay fines and give up several properties, but they stayed out of Azkaban.

Hogwarts had been repaired, and restored to its former glory, now having Professor McGonagall as its new Headmistress. Professor Flitwick was made Deputy Headmaster, and Hagrid was made head of Gryffindor house. For the new Defense Against the Darks arts post, they had a joint professor'ship'. Viktor Krum and Bill Weasley had agreed to take the position up. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny agreed heartily to the new appointments, and looked forward to see the school's reaction to this new team.

September 1st had come, and Molly and Arthur escorted them off to King's Cross Station. Harry felt a bit overwhelmed by the thought that the last time he was "here" was with Dumbledore talking before he killed Voldemort. Hermione and Neville headed off to the Head's Compartment to get things settled with the rest of the Prefects. They got to lecture Ron and Luna and the other prefects on how they should all act in the school. Harry, Ginny, and Dean all found a compartment together and waited for the others to get back. Although Ginny and Dean had dated two years ago, they got over it, as well as Harry, and they had learned to all be friends again. They were all still dressing in Muggle clothes when Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna returned to the compartment. The girls immediately left to go to another compartment, getting changed into their robes. The boys quickly changed and talked all about what happened over their summers.

"Well, my mum was killed while I was on the run, and now my dad showed up again, and has a really bad drinking problem, probably can drink as much as Hagrid now and still not be completely pissed," Dean admitted. He found out that he was a half-blood and his father has just ran out on them before he knew about Dean.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mum, mate," Harry said truthfully.

"Ron, no offense or anything, but after staying with your Auntie Muriel, it made me appreciate what family I have left," Dean said, even if it was his drunk father. Muriel was a horrible old wretch, and having those extra people stay with her wasn't really helping matters much.

"She's no barrel of monkey's that's for sure," Ron said grimly. "She even confused me for Ginny at my brother's wedding last summer, just because my hair was long."

"Still is," Dean commented, flicking the little pony tail that Ron had pulled his hair back into.

"Well, mate, you look nothing like your sister, thank Merlin," Harry said through bursts of laughter. The whole compartment shared funny stories from their youth to lighten the mood, including the time Neville's Great Uncle Algie dropped him from the second story window and he bounced around the yard. Their stories came through gales of laughter until they reached Hogwarts. Younger students would look in their compartment and have puzzled looks on their faces at the hysterical seventh years.

The girls on the other hand all sat in their compartment, after getting changed, and talked about their up coming school year.

"Hermione, how are going to deal with being away from by dear brother all the time, now that you're Head Girl and all?" Ginny asked.

"Well, it'll take some getting used to but I think we'll be able to manage it," Hermione said confidently. "I get a private room, so that's plus, if you catch my drift."

"Ewwe," Ginny cried. "That's my brother you're talking about; I don't want to know about that!"

"Okay, calm down Gin," Hermione soothed. "Now, what about you?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, a bit confused.

"You and Harry, of course," Luna supplied.

"What about us?"

"Are you two gonna get back together?" Hermione prodded a bit more than gently.

"I don't know. I mean, we're friends, and I don't want to jeopardize that," Ginny said nervously. "I know that he's going to have to make the first move, but I don't want to go fast."

"No, I completely understand. I mean, I'm glad Ron and I are taking things slowly," Hermione agreed.

"Not that I want to know about my brother's sex life, but how are things going?" Ginny asked.

"Well, all I know is that he is fine waiting until I'm ready, which I'm really glad for."

The girls discussed their love lives until the train reached Hogwarts. Both sexes rejoined each other and made their way to the thestral-pulled carriages. Harry, Neville, and Luna could always see these magnificently eerie creatures, but now Hermione, Ron, Dean, and Ginny could see them as well. So many others could see them now.

"So this is what we rode on when we went to the department of mysteries," Ron commented, carefully inspecting the creatures from his seat in the carriage. Harry felt his stomach drop, he thought it was his entire fault again; his fault that everyone could see these creatures that represent nothing but death. He never intended or wished for anyone to see these things. Ginny noticed him tense up and squeezed his hand gently and he squeezed back; she seemed to always know how to make him feel better in any situation. They all made it back up to the castle in silence.

When they reached the front doors they were greeted by a familiar cackle; Peeves. "Ooh, ickle sevies come back to Hoggywarts, what fun!"

"Peeves, not now okay?" asked Harry. Peeves just looked at him, gave an evil grin, and zoomed off to go bother some of the younger students. Everyone was amazed at how Peeves took the orders from someone other than Dumbledore and the Bloody Barron. Even the Weasley Twin's order was a rare occasion for the pesky poltergeist.

"Wicked," Dean said as they made their way into the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall had repaired the school to exactly they way it had been. She was seated at the head table and gave the group of teens a smile. They took their seats close to the staff table. Professor Flitwick came in, several minutes later, joined by the new first years. Harry noticed that they all seemed smaller than he remembered.

"Did we always look that small?" Harry asked Ron.

"Nah, mate, not me and you, but 'Mione here is still the same size," Ron joked before getting a gentle elbow in the ribs from his brown haired girlfriend. "I like your size, tiny enough to fit me perfectly."

"Nice save, mister," she whispered before giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

Professor Flitwick conjured a stool, placed the worn sorting hat upon it, and backed away. The hat sprung to life and began its little song:

Welcome to yet another year;

I'll make my song brief and clear.

For where I place you, never fear,

At Hogwarts, you'll do fine all year.

If Hufflepuff is your chosen path

You're kind, and honest, so you do the math.

If in Ravenclaw your mind should be

It will thank you most pleasantly.

Now that Slytherin has done its part,

To relieve us from that tyrannical tart

You should be cunning and true

You never know, the next noble wizard could be you!

Now in Gryffindor, should you be

There's integrity, prowess, and honesty.

For any of the houses should you be

They can all live in harmony.

Applause erupted from all four of the house tables. They knew that they hat spoke the truth and they were all going to try to be closer this year. Deputy Headmaster Flitwick picked up that sorting hat and opened his scroll of names. He called the students one by one, having them sit on the stool, try on the sorting hat, and then be sorted into their appropriate houses. The Gryffindor's gained nine new students: Sheldon Brown, Nelson Nickles, Amanda Murphy, Jaman Ragone, Laura Blades, Gabrielle Gallows, Alexander Josun, Anthony Salvus, and Rachael Gridenka. The classes were all going to be bigger than normal this year because of the after effects of the war. Last year, no Muggle-borns were admitted to the school, and some just didn't come back after their last year. When all the students were settled down, Professor McGonagall stood up. "May I have your attention please?"

The hall quieted down. "There are a few announcements that I would like to make before we dive into our delicious feast," she eyed Ron who already was being antsy about getting some food soon. "Firstly, since Professor Snape is no longer here, we really needed a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. But I'm sad to report that we couldn't find one," the crowd gasped. "Instead, we found two. They have agreed to teach together rather than having just one. They both have skills that you all can benefit from. I would like to introduce Bill Weasley and Viktor Krum!" she indicated the appropriate red head and Bulgarian wizard at the far end of the table. They stood up and gave slight smiles, but sat back down rather quickly.

"I would also like to announce that Professor Hagrid will be taking the roll of Head of Gryffindor house." A tumult of cheer resonated through the hall, starting at the Gryffindor table. The seventh years all stood up and clapped for him. "Okay, settle down you all. I would like to remind everyone," she looked at Harry, Hermione, and Ron pointedly, "That theForbiddenForestis, as its name suggests, forbidden. There is also a list of contraband still posted on Mr. Flich's door. The list reaches nearly five hundred items; the majority of which are products from Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes.

"There is one final thing that I should warn you all against. Would everyone who fought here earlier this summer, please rise?" Many students stood. "Please take notice all those who are standing. You are not to question these students about the battle. If I find out that you do, you will receive a weeks worth of detentions, suspension of privileges, and any other punishment I deem necessary." There were various nods in acknowledgement. "They are not to be harassed as to what when on here, as it was a traumatizing experience for all involved."

"Thank you Professor," Harry said, nodding appreciatively.

She nodded then sat down. Food appeared on everyone's plates. They dug in; even Hermione ate the food, appreciating the house-elves this time around. Ron grabbed her hand halfway through the meal, entwining her fingers with his, and squeezed gently. She smiled up at him. 'He really matured a lot over the summer,' she thought.

Once the feast was over, Hermione and Neville met with Professor McGonagall while Ron led the first years to the common room.

"Ah, Miss Granger, Mister Longbottom, I hope you found the feast to be satisfactory," Professor McGonagall greeted.

"Oh, of course Professor, it was wonderful," Hermione said. "And thank you."

"I know I wouldn't like to be harassed; I just assumed that you all wouldn't either," she said. "Now, are you two ready to go to your new dormitory?" They nodded and followed her to the Head's Dormitory. They ended up outside a tapestry with three witches working over a cauldron. "Freedom," Professor McGonagall said as a password. Hermione and Neville grinned inwardly. The tapestry magically moves aside, revealing an entranceway. The common room was lavishly decorated in red and gold. They had a large sofa in front of an ornate fireplace. There was an expansive bookcase on the back wall, but it was completely empty.

"Don't worry Miss Granger; it won't be empty for long. All you have to do is tell is what you want, duplicates from the library will appear. If you put the books you need to keep for a while on one side, the other side will be returned to the library. And this bookshelf does topic searches, quite a nifty invention by Professor Flitwick," the headmistress said, noticing the teenagers' reaction. She guided Hermione and Neville around the common room. Eventually she led them to Neville's room, which was just as lavish as the common room. There as a king-sized four-poster bed in mahogany, adorned with scarlet and gold hangings. There was a large closet and a door that led to a large bathroom. In the bathroom there was a large Jacuzzi type bathtub embedded in the floor, large enough to fit ten people in there comfortably. There was a shower off in one corner, while the sink and toilet were near the other. There was a mirror that ran the expanse of one wall opposite the shower. There was a door directly across from Neville's entrance. Professor McGonagall led them through it. Hermione's bedroom was just as ornate but with softer colors, lighter wood; very feminine looking.

When they all returned to the common room, Professor McGonagall gave them a run down on the rules. "You each must have your own personal password to your rooms. The common room may be used as you please; a gathering place for your friends to study when your NEWT's are coming up."

"Okay," Hermione said brightly, already drawing up a study schedule for several of her classmates.

"Well, I'll say congrats again, and show you one more thing before you leave," Professor McGonagall said as she walked over to a tapestry of Godric Gryffindor. "I belong in your house," she said, and pulled open the tapestry to reveal a small walkway to Gryffindor common room.

"Ooh," Hermione breathed,

"Wow," said Neville.

"You have access to this room at all times," she said. "But also you have access to other common rooms as well. I suspect that the only on you'll really be using would be Ravenclaw's," Neville blushed. "In which case, all you have to say is 'Head Boy to Ravenclaw common room'."

"Thanks," Neville muttered, very highly embarrassed. The professor bid them good night and left them to exchange passwords for easier access. Then they headed out to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione walked over to the couch to sit next to Ron, who didn't notice at first because he was talking intently about Quidditch with Harry. Hermione slipped her hand onto his knee causing him to jump. "Hermione, you scared me," he panted.

"Sorry," she said, kissing his cheek in apology. She entwined her fingers with his.

"So, what are you doing in here? I never saw the portrait open," Ron observed.

"There's a special entrance through the tapestry to the Head's dormitory," Hermione clarified. "Neville's even got access to the Ravenclaw common room to visit Luna."

"That's amazing 'Mione," Ron said brightly, kissing her briefly on the cheek.

"And there's one more thing," she said slyly. "We can have people over in our dormitory for 'study' sessions," she stressed the word 'study', praying that Ron got her meaning.

"Oh, really," his eyes widening in feigned shock. She playfully slapped him on the chest.

"Not for that," she giggled. "People could see in the common room."

"Wha-? Oh," he breathed, realization hit him. "Who would have ever thought that Hermione Jane Granger would be making her room available to her boyfriend?"

"Am I really like that?" Hermione asked, now very serious.

"Well you weren't like that, but I think Harry and I had something to do with that," he said slyly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, would you have, before you met us that is, sleep in the same tent as two teenage boys for nearly a year?"

"Well, no…"

"And would you have helped Harry start the DA before we met?"

"No…" she sighed.

"See you are like that now, you are a mischief maker, whether you like it or not. You took down Rita Skeeter for Merlin's sake," Ron said, promptly kissing her on the lips.

"I guess you're right. But you have to admit," she admitted. "I do keep you two out of quite a bit of trouble."

"I know, all starting with that run in with the troll, first year."

"Oh," Hermione blushed profusely.

"You look so cute when you blush," Ron said quietly. Then it hit him. "Oops, did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did Ronald," Hermione said playfully. She kissed him soundly on the lips before getting up.

"Where you going?" Ron asked.

"I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to write a letter to my parents and go to bed."

"Okay, good night Hermione."

"Good night Ronald," she said softly.

Hermione walked back through the tapestry and made the password for her door "Ronald." The door giggled in response and opened for her. She quickly jotted a note to her parents and hopped into bed, planning to mail it tomorrow morning.

Morning came too quickly for everyone. They all met down in the Great Hall for breakfast, greeting each other groggily. Neville got Luna to join them at the Gryffindor table. Professor Flitwick came by and handed out the schedules to everyone.

First class9-11 AM

Second class11-12AM

Lunch12-1:30 PM

Third class1:30-3:30 PM

_Harry James Potter_

**Monday** – transfiguration / break / lunch / potions

**Tuesday** – DADA / Astronomy (lecture) / lunch / break … astronomy (practical atmidnight)

**Wednesday** – Charms / break / lunch / potions

**Thursday** – DADA / break / lunch / transfiguration

**Friday** – charms / break / lunch / DADA

_Ronald Bilius Weasley_

**Monday** – transfiguration / break / lunch / potions

**Tuesday** – DADA / Astronomy (lecture) / lunch / break … astronomy (practical atmidnight)

**Wednesday** – Charms / break / lunch / potions

**Thursday** – DADA / break / lunch / transfiguration

**Friday** – charms / break / lunch / DADA

_Hermione Jean Granger_

**Monday** – Transfiguration / Ancient Runes / Lunch / Potions

**Tuesday** – DADA / Arithmancy / Lunch / Break

**Wednesday** – Charms / Ancient Runes / Lunch / Potions

**Thursday** – DADA / History of Magic / Lunch / Transfiguration

**Friday** – Charms / Arithmancy / Lunch / DADA

_Ginevra Molly Weasley_

**Monday** – Transfiguration / break / lunch / charms

**Tuesday** – DADA / Arithmancy / lunch / break

**Wednesday** – Charms / break / lunch / astronomy (lecture)

**Thursday** – DADA / break / lunch / transfiguration

**Friday** – Charms / arithmancy / lunch / DADA

_Neville Augustine Longbottom_

**Monday** – Herbology / break / lunch / Care of Magical Creatures

**Tuesday** – DADA / Astronomy / lunch / Herbology

**Wednesday** – Charms / break / lunch / Care of Magical Creatures

**Thursday** – DADA / break / lunch / Herbology

**Friday** – Charms / break / lunch / DADA

_Luna Anne Lovegood_

**Monday** – Charms / History of Magic / lunch / Arithmancy

**Tuesday** – Transfiguration / break / lunch / DADA

**Wednesday** – Potions / History of Magic / lunch / Arithmancy

**Thursday** – Charms / Astronomy (lecture) / lunch / Transfiguration

**Friday** – Potions / History of Magic / lunch / DADA

"I like my schedule this year," Ginny said.

"I do too," said Harry, now munching on some cornflakes.

"We have fifteen minutes before Charms, and Luna has potions," Hermione announced. "You think it'll be bad, in the halls I mean."

"Nah, you heard McGonagall, they'll get into trouble if they bug us," Ron said.

"But that won't stop them from staring," Harry resigned glumly. "You'd think that I'd be used to it by now."

"We'll get through it," Ginny said, that determined look in her face again. She squeezed his hand reassuringly. Harry smiled warmly down at her. All of them go up from the table and returned to their common rooms to get ready for their first day back at school. Slowly people started to file into the room: Dean Thomas, and several kids the trio never really knew (seeing, as they were in different houses and a grade younger), Justin Finch-Fletchly, Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott. No Slytherins. The majority of them had been accused of Death Eater activities and were refused when they applied to return to Hogwarts. There were a few seventh years left though, Ginny said they all had through Charms was a weak subject, so they had refused to take it last year.

"Welcome back everyone!" Professor Flitwick greeted them enthusiastically. "We're going to jump right into our first project. We'll be working in pairs to see who can charm a door to refuse entry to certain people but allow others."

"Yes…" murmured the class, who had already begun to pair off: Hermione with Ron, Harry with Ginny, and Neville with Dean. They had to look up the spell and practice with a model.

Professor Flitwick made his rounds around the classroom, correcting people as he went along. It took about a half hour for everyone to grasp the basic concepts. He had a doorframe in the center of the classroom, for testing. Many of the people tried the charm, but failed. Dean couldn't accomplish it. "It felt weird when I walked through," said Neville. "Like I shouldn't have been there or something."

When Neville tried the charm, he got Dean to stop midway through the doorway. He struggled for a moment and forced his way in.

"Wonderful work Mister Longbottom." Professor Flitwick praised.

Harry and Ginny were next. They came up with the same effect as Neville, as did Ron. Hermione however was successful. She charmed the door to accept Harry but deny Ron. Ron and Hermione went to walk back through the doorway, but Hermione couldn't pass through, and Ron did. She landed with a thud, while Ron roared with laughter. He walked around the doorframe to help her to her feet; she was laughing pretty hard at this point.

"Sorry Hermione," Ron said, still chuckling slightly. "I couldn't resist."

"I didn't hear you say the spell," she said.

"I guess I've finally gotten the hang of nonverbal spells, not haven't I?" he mused. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips before returning to their seats.

All of the Gryffindor teens had a free period but Luna had to rush off to History of Magic. No one really knew why she and Hermione took that class. Neville attributed it to her research for the Quibbler, which she now co-ran with her father. All of them hung in the Gryffindor common room, seeing as they only had an hour-long break and no homework. Ron was telling Hermione, in earnest, how he had been trying more and more nonverbal spells, going from simple summoning spells to complex ones, like the one they had used in class. Harry and Ginny were talking about the DADA scheduled after lunch.

"It's going to be weird, having my brother as a teacher," Ginny commented.

"Yeah, I wonder how Ron's going to react to having Krum there all the time, around Hermione and all," Harry said.

"He's going to go nuts," Ginny said simply, leaving both teens laughing loudly, imagining Ron's reaction.

"What are you two laughing at?" Neville asked, chuckling at their giddiness.

"Just imagining how Ron's going to act to Viktor teaching Hermione," Ginny said between laughs.

"W—What?" spluttered Ron, the news that Hermione's ex-person was going to be teaching them.

"Ron?" Harry asked, trying to prevent a melt down on the first day of school. "Game of chess?"

"Uh…" Ron said, losing his trail of anger, thankfully. "Sure."

The rest of the group let go a collective sigh, all silently thanking Harry for nipping this one in the bud. They set up the chessboard and were soon engaged in a battle. It ended with Ron the victor, and five minutes before the lunch bell rang; cheering on Ron and Harry had really worked all their appetites up. When they arrived, only a few first years were sitting near the staff table; you could normally tell what year students are in due to where they sit in the Great Hall. First, second, and third years all sat near the staff table because they want to kiss up to everyone. Fourth and fifth years sat toward the back, farthest from the teachers and closest to the escape route. They sixth and seventh years all sat in the middle because that's all that was left, and they were so tired from all their studying to care where they sat.

Lunch was rather normal; nothing like the start of term feast, but everything was just as tasty. Hermione was still worried about the house-elves, but ate heartily unlike her fourth year. Ron thought he'd be funny and put his hand on Hermione's knee, knowing that she didn't really care for PDA of this sort, especially at meals. Her face immediately flushed, but didn't feel like embarrassing him, so she let his hand stay. He, again, though he'd be daring and inched his hand slowly up her slender thigh, nudging her skirt steadily higher. Once he was halfway up she hadn't said anything. He decided not to press his luck any further that he already had, and resigned to stroking her leg with his thumb, tracing invisible patterns on her inner thigh.

Ginny seemed to notice this slight but of action and tried her hardest not to burst out laughing. She nudged Harry slightly and jerked her head toward the unsuspecting couple. He sniggered quietly to himself. Everyone ate lunch rather slowly, trying to waste time doing something before they had to go to DADA. All the teens who knew the teachers couldn't wait for class to begin. With ten minutes to spare, they all traipsed up to the common room to gather their defense books. Then they headed to the third floor classroom.

Bill and Viktor were conversing in the front of the classroom when the six teenagers entered. Viktor gasped when he saw Hermione.

"Hermy-own!" he exclaimed, hurrying over to her and giving the witch a hug.

"Hello, Viktor," Hermione replied sweetly. "You know we aren't supposed to hug, no student/teacher relationships," she chided gently. She took Ron's hand in her, to prove her point even further.

"I know," he said dejectedly, though he didn't notice this small gesture.

"I can't believe that I'm a teacher, let alone to my siblings," Bill said, finally joining the conversation.

"Yeah," Ginny said, hugging her older brother. Ron and Harry shook his hand in greeting, and, surprisingly, so did Neville. At this point, more people started to show up, so they all clambered for seats near the front of the room near each other. Once everyone was seated the lesson began.

"Hello, everyone. We'd like to start by introductions. I'm Bill Weasley," Bill stated happily.

"And I'm Viktor Krum."

"Please, let's go around and introduce ourselves; we certainly don't know everyone here," Bill commented.

"Harry Potter"

"Hermione Granger"

"Ginny Weasley"

"Ron Weasley"

"Neville Longbottom"

"Luna Lovegood"

"Hannah Abbott"

"Susan Bones"

"Dean Thomas"

"Justin Finch-Fetchley"

"Draco Malfoy"

"Wayne Hopkirk"

"Megan Jones"

"Su Li"

"We're going to be covering quite a bit this year, as well as a review for a few days, to see what everyone knows." There was a murmur of agreement amongst all the students.

"Now for a basic question, who can conjure a patronus?" Viktor asked, really making his Bulgarian accent less noticeable, like he had been getting English lessons. The majority of the class raised their hands. He jotted down their names. "Vell, everyone stand up."

They all stood and he vanished their desks with a sweep of his wand. Another wave and there was a solitary white ring drawn on the floor.

"Please," Bill picked up. "When we call your name, please come up, and stand in the center of the circle. The ministry has asked that we document the shapes of your corporeal patronuses." He scanned the list. "Hermione, you have three attempts."

Hermione strode out to the ring, holding her head high. This was the only spell that she really had trouble with. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her happiest memory: her first kiss with Ron. She let the memory fill her up. "Expecto Patronum!" she screamed. A silvery otter spewed from her wand tip. It gamboled around her feet and giggled as it brushed against her legs; giving off good feelings.

"Vell done, Hermy-own," Viktor complimented. Hermione nodded in reply. He scanned the list and called out "Draco."

Malfoy walked to the circle, not looking at Hermione in passing. He closed his eyes in concentration. "Expecto Patronum," he said rather loudly.

"An eagle, very impressive, Mister Malfoy," Bill said. The teachers went through the list, noting all of their patronus forms: Harry's was a stag; Ron's was a terrier; Ginny's was a horse; Luna's was a rabbit; Hannah's was a cat; Susan's was a chimp; Dean's was a tiger; Justin's was goat; Wayne's was a bird; Su's was a lion; Megan's was a turtle; and most surprising was Neville's, which was a bear.

"Well done everyone!" Bill praised. "Now that we know patronuses, we are going to learn how to send messages with them. Does anyone know how to already?"

Hermione raised her hand, yet again, being the only one in class to know what do to.

"Wonderful, would you care to give a demonstration?"

"Sure," Hermione said, her voice quavering slightly. She cast her patronus, thought of a message and waved her wand again. The otter gracefully swam through the air over to Bill "I guess this was easy enough," her voice said. Hermione blushed and the whole room laughed at her message.

"I guess it was easy enough, may I ask where you learned where you learned to do that."

"Umm… I talked to your Dad about it," she said softly.

"Don't worry Hermione, you are allowed to have a relationship with my family and me outside of school," Bill said reassuringly. "You won't get into trouble for that."

The rest of their DADA class went fairly smoothly. They went over different patronus manipulations; sending messages, shrinking, increasing size, and distorting shape. Viktor explained how patronus' could change due to love. This caught Ron's attention, but only Bill noticed. Once the bell ran, he called Ron back.

"Ron, may I have a word?"

"Uh, sure," Ron said. He turned to Hermione. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."

"Okay," she replied, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Yeah, Bill?" Ron asked, confused as to why his oldest brother had called him back. "What is it?"

"You were wondering about love's affect of patronuses. I noticed you after Krum mentioned it," Bill stated.

"Well… Yeah," he resigned.

"It doesn't always happen, but there are special cases. Don't get your hopes up."

"Thanks Bill," Ron said cheerily.

Ron left the classroom and met up with Hermione in his common room.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 The New Teacher**

**A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates... it was finals and i finally got internet back on = ) regular updates now, as soon as i can get chapters edited**

enjoy!**  
**

When Monday morning rolled around, they were all rather excited for the first full week of classes. They headed down to breakfast and sat with Luna. Nearly everyone was down there already, so when they were there for about five minutes, Professor McGonagall got up to address the student body. She took her fork and tapped it gently on the side of her goblet; the sound resonating through the entire Great Hall.

"May I have your attention please?" she asked politely. The crowd shifted their attention to their Headmistress. "I have an announcement to make. I will be formally stepping down as Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts, due to the fact that the workload is immense now that I am the Headmistress. I have chosen a new teacher to replace me. However, seeing as she's not here, I guess you'll just have to be surprised when you have the class." There was a mischievous smile on her face, and the six teens couldn't help but think that it was directed toward them. They had a sneaking suspicion that they would know their teacher and it would be a surprise for the good.

They all finished their breakfasts rather hurriedly and nearly ran to the Transfiguration classroom. On one was there is first, or so they thought. They took some seats near the front of the room, trying to guess who would be the new teacher. "Maybe she got Aberforth to teach?" Harry suggested.

"Nah," Ron said dismissively. "He's a barmy old git, he didn't seem to care for kids that much; his wife would have probably been happy to get rid of him though. And plus, he owns the Hogs Head, why would he give that up?"

"You're right I guess," Harry said thoughtfully. He carefully picked through the Order members in his head, mulling over which one would have his vote for the new teacher. All of a sudden Ron and Ginny seemed to hear some soft music; it was coming from the office on the side of the classroom. It was familiar to the Weasley siblings but Harry and Hermione weren't familiar with it at all.

"Hang on, I know that song," Ron said, getting up from his desk and walking cautiously toward the slightly opened teacher's door. Ginny, who was seated next to Harry, began humming the tune. It was soothing, almost like a bedtime song Harry thought. Ron inched the door open. "Er, Professor?"

"AHHHHHH!" a lady screamed. "RON!" Ron ran into the room to greet the teacher. You could tell he was giving her a kiss, by the looks of his shadow, and Hermione was getting angered. She left her seat and stormed to the door.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you are such a hypocrite. You get all flustered over a hug from Viktor, yet here you are **kissing **another woman!..." she trailed off as she pushed open the door. "Molly!" she shrieked, flying at the Weasley matriarch, taking her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Mum?" Ginny perked up out of her lullaby induced stupor. "That's why that tune sounded so familiar. Mum used to sing it for us to go to bed." She got up and ran over to the door to greet her mother; Harry did as well.

"Oh, Minerva said she had a surprise lesson for my first, I couldn't imagine that it would be you all," she cried.

"Well, how could you have planned any of your lessons if she didn't tell you what classes you would be having?" Hermione asked tentatively. She had always been a planner, and was willing to offer to help her mother figure plan her lessons for the beginning of the term in necessary.

"I have a weeks worth of lesson plans, courtesy of Minerva. I have tweaked them slightly though. I did try to accomplish a bit of transfiguration over the summer, and I'm proud to say that I have accomplished it!"

"What is it Mum?" Ron asked eagerly.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise now do I?" she said, smiling slyly.

Draco walked into the Transfiguration classroom, only to see Harry and Ginny lingering near the office door. He heard Ron and Hermione's voices from within. "Kissing up to the new teacher won't get you anywhere Weaselette. You'll start acting like the Mudblood," he sneered.

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny left the office, and were shortly followed by Molly Weasley, looking rather dangerous. "You will not insult my family, Mister Malfoy," Molly said threateningly, gesturing to the other four teens. "Or else I will take house points and take it up with the Headmistress, is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said softly, not looking the elder witch in the eye, but concentrating intently on his feet. All five of them sat down near the front. Finally they realized that they were the only NEWT students for the class for their seventh year. Molly walked up to her desk and started to gather her notes to begin her lecture.

"As you all well know, I'm Molly Weasley, your new teacher. You may call me Mum, Molly, Mrs. Weasley, I don't really care, what ever you feel comfortable with," she was smiling at them warmly. "I do have some rules that will be followed in this classroom: One, the words 'Blood Traitor', 'Mudblood', 'You-Know-Who', or any variation except his true name will not be spoken; Two, there is no need to use unnecessary spells in this classroom; and three, there will be no fighting of any kind. Now, I know you're all capable witches and wizards, but, for the time being, we're going to go as slow as you need. The project we're going to be doing is going to take some time, unless you are really intense with your studies. We should wrap this up by Halloween."

"What are we going to be doing then?" Ron asked.

"You are all going to be learning how to become an animagi," Molly announced proudly.

"You learned how to be one over the summer?" Hermione asked in awe.

"Yes," she said simply. She closed her eyes in concentration and there was a faint 'pop' and a lion took her place. All five students applauded her, albeit some louder than others. 'Pop' and she was back into her human form. "Thank you."

"Here are some notebooks and pens; you are to use these when we take notes in this class. Your notes should be legible, as a part of your final grade – aside from the final tests – will be on your notebooks" she eyed Ron and Harry. "So you can study in your spare time. When you come to class everyday, take your pens out and start copying the notes down. The first hour, we'll do theory and explanations, the second hour we'll do practical work." The teens nodded as she passed out black marble composition books and several pens to each student. Hermione quickly explained to Draco, Ron, and Ginny how the pens worked (seeing as none them had taken Muggle Studies, or were Muggleborn/raised).

"The little black tube is essentially your inkwell. It's more than you think, when the ink stops coming out, you just throw it away."

"Thank you Hermione," Molly praised. Her husband had gotten them for her to give out to the class, claiming that Muggles used them all the time. "Now," she tapped the board, and writing appeared. "Copy down the notes, and please leave a one inch margin around the notes on all sides, just to make room for extra notes as I go over the material. Please, at any time, jot down any questions you might have, and I'll try to get them answered."

Molly heard the scratching of the pens on the paper, which was quite a bit quieter than the quills scratching on parchment. She changed the board several times when the kids were done their page. After a half hour, they were all done. Hermione's notes were prim and perfect as always, and surprisingly, so were Draco's notes. Harry, Ginny, and Ron's were completely horrible, as per usual, but at least they could read them. The rest of the class, Molly went over all the notes, answered any and all questions and gave them some homework that was due by Thursday.

"A foot long essay composition on any and all complications that may occur when inexperienced witches and wizards attempt to transform. You must cite specific examples." All five teens left the class and headed off. Hermione had to go to her Ancient Runes class, and Harry, Ron, and Ginny go to have their break period. Ron held off on doing his essay so he and Hermione could do it together. They also met up with Neville, who stayed in the Gryffindor common room with them. He went to the Head's dormitory for a bit, looking for Herbology books that would help him with his essay.

'Okay, we'll just go to the library to search for out books," Ginny said, dragging both boys off to the library to do their homework.

"Wait!" Neville cried. "Come to the Head's dormitory. We have this special book case, where, when you ask for a particular topic, you can get all the books you need." The three agreed and followed Neville to the Head's common room. They just stood there for a moment, taking in the wondrous sight, and thinking about all the fun they could have there, especially if they held a party. Neville showed them the bookcase, searching for his Herbology book. Harry, Ron, and Ginny found three exact copies of the book they needed. Ron just decided to do his homework; perhaps he would help Hermione with hers later, not that she needed it. They sat around the common room, and were about halfway through their essays when Hermione walked in.

"I just walked into the Gryffindor common room looking for you all," she said, a bit exasperated.

"Yeah, Neville showed us what you have in here, and I must say I kind of like it," Ron said.

"So, wait, you're all doing homework, voluntarily?" she asked.

"Yup," Ron said, not even bothering to look up from the sentence he was writing.

"Who are you and what have you done to my boyfriend?" she asked jokingly.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Ron replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm actually going to try to do my homework on time this year."

"Wow!" Hermione said, kissing the top of his head. They all headed to lunch, and Neville opted to sit at the Ravenclaw table with Luna and her friends.

"Ron?" she asked quietly.

"Hmm?" he replied through a mouthful of food.

"Would you like to go over the essay later, in my dormitory?" she asked, hoping that it would come off suggestively. Ron's ears turned pinkish as he swallowed his food.

"Sure, if you want," he said, implying the question.

"Yeah," she murmured before taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. Harry and Ginny were talking animatedly about two members of her family being teachers here.

After dinner was over, Neville went to the Ravenclaw common room to hang with Luna, Harry and Ginny did their Transfiguration, Potions, and Charms homework in the Gryffindor common room; Ron and Hermione were in the Head's dormitory. She gave the password to the tapestry and dropped all of their books on the oversized couch. They did their homework together, Ron giving Hermione some information that he found in the books from earlier. She wrote her essay and corrected his for grammar mistakes. There wasn't much to correct and gave it back to him with very small corrections.

"This paper was rather good," Hermione said, standing up from the couch. He made to stand up but she pushed him sharply back down. "You deserve to get something special for writing such a good paper."

"W—What?" Ron spluttered. Hermione slid back down to his lap. His bright blue eyes locked with her chocolate brown ones right before she lowered her lips to his. He just sat there at first; still trying to figure out if this was reality or just another one of his dreams; whether or not this was his girlfriend. After a moment or two, he pulled back. "What's gotten into you?"

"What? You don't like it?" she panted, passing her fingers through his thick red hair. He let an involuntary shiver pass over his body.

"No, I mean, yeah I like it," he said, running his hands up and down her arms. "I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"No worries, Ron," she said, bending to kiss his neck slightly. "Well, I could stop," she breathed lightly on his neck, near his ear.

"No," he groaned, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to his broad chest. She nibbled a bit on his earlobe, knowing that they were probably the second most sensitive spot on his body; it made his breath catch. She nipped her way along his jaw line and captured his delectably lush lips. He moved his lips against her, running his long fingers through her soft curly hair. She moaned when he tugged a bit on her chestnut locks; giving him ample opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. She pulled him even closer that humanly possible, her lips nearly bruising his in a brutal fashion. Ron tore his lips away from hers and made his way down her slender neck, grazing his teeth across her collarbone; she arched backwards, offering more of herself to the redheaded teen. His hands left her hair and settled on her hips; his large hands felt rather comfortable, and perfectly in place there. She knew that he could probably force her to do just about anything with those hands, but he wouldn't, they were too gentle with her. Hermione raked her nails down his back. She could feel a tightening of his muscles as well as in the material of his trousers.

Hermione moaned and ground her hips down onto Ron, causing him to gasp and pull away. "What?" she asked, looking up at him worriedly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, don't ever think you are doing something wrong," he said, putting a hand on her cheek. "It's just… I don't think we're ready for us to go any further." Ron kissed her firmly on her puffy lips. "I don't want you to regret doing any of this."

"Wait, aren't I supposed to be telling you this?" she said jokingly.

"Funny, 'Mione," he said lightly.

"Okay," she whispered, resting her forehead against Ron's. "Can I ask you something?" she said after a comfortable silence.

"Hmm?" he murmured.

"Sleep in here with me?"

His eyes opened, looking down at his girlfriend. "What?"

"Just sleep, I promise," her eyes pleaded with him. "I just need to be near you right now."

"Where?"

"In my room, or here on the couch, where ever you feel comfortable," she replied hesitantly.

"Couch," he replied. "I don't really want to be tempted." She nodded in agreement. Hermione went upstairs real quick to get her pajamas on and returned downstairs. She had on flannel short bottoms and a black tank top.

"Er, wow," Ron breathed. "Why don't you wear that when you're at the Burrow?"

"Do you honestly think your mum would approve of my pajamas when there are all your brothers still always around?" Hermione asked.

"Er, that would be a… no," Ron said, sniggering.

"Exactly," she yawned, raising her arms far above her head; this caused her shirt to come up, exposing her bellybutton and a lot of midriff.

"Merlin, Hermione, I don't think I could ever get used to that," Ron exclaimed and ran a finger across her stomach, causing her to giggle girlishly. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her, meeting him for a kiss. He pressed his body against hers, walking her backwards until they collided with the wall. She moaned softly. He plundered her mouth. His hands pushed her hips up against the wall. Somehow Ron's nimble fingers made their way under her shirt and were now gripping her lightly on her sides. She really felt how calloused his hands really were from all the Quidditch. They carried on for a few moments before Ron pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. They just stood there for several moments, listening to each other's breathing.

"I think we should head to bed," Ron said quietly. "We have defense first thing tomorrow morning."

"Okay," she whispered. She walked over and began to transfigure the couch to make it larger, but Ron stayed her wand.

"No," he said firmly. He lay down on the couch, his back nestled firmly against the hard back of it. "Come here."

"Okay," she said in front of him. Ron pulled her down and wrapped his arms around her middle. Seeing as her back was to him, he snuggled into her, nuzzling his freckled nose into her hair. She let out a contented sign and wriggled back so there was no space between them. They fell asleep to the sounds of each other's breathing. Ron didn't even snore that night.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 September**

Their classes were going rather well; better than expected for the NEWT year courses. They all successfully completed their animagi transformations, so much earlier than Molly had predicted, and even more quickly than Professor McGonagall thought possible. Hermione, as per usual, finished first and Draco even asked her for help with him. Draco seemed to change his act around completely. He, Harry, and Ron got into lengthy discussions on Quidditch and the dark arts; he stopped calling Ginny Weaslette and Hermione a Mudblood, he actually called them by their real names now. Molly had progressed to doing human transformations on each other. Hermione had already successfully completed this when they robbed Gringotts. By the end of one class Ron had a beak, Snape-like, nose, Hermione's eyebrows had grown way out of control and now covered nearly her whole face, Ginny had massive black teeth, Harry had bright fluorescent purple hair, and Draco had floor length red hair. Molly saw them all laughing together and felt a swell of happiness well inside of her.

"So this is what it feels like to be a Weasley?" Draco quipped from behind the wall of hair. Nearly everyone fell out of their seats laughing. That was another thing that the war had changed about him, he now had a great sense of humor. He even took to sending ideas to George at the shop, coming up with new gags and tricks.

Their potion class was going well; they had progressed from Amortentia to Veratiserum. All of these potions were extremely difficult to brew, and very time consuming. Hermione helped Ron and Harry as much as possible but Draco ended up taking her responsibility for Harry, using tips that Snape had given him over the years. Professor Slughorn was quite glad to see that there was still some interhouse unity, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin, the great rival houses. He complimented them all on their improvement. Harry even explained his predicament with the Half-Blood Prince's book. Slughorn seemed to understand why his outstanding potion ability was rapidly depleting. Slughorn even kept him after class to talk to him about the long standing battle between Severus Snape and his mother in potions class while they were at school; the fond memories brought a smile to Harry's face.

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts class was going fantastically; the teachers made the class extremely enjoyable. They all learned to manipulate their patronesses: making them get smaller, wider, and bigger, send messages, and combine with others to make them even more powerful. Bill was easily becoming one of their favorite teachers; many of the girls were disappointed when he flashed his wedding ring at them inconspicuously. Fleur would drop by for lunch with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Molly. Viktor was still trying to talk to Hermione more and more, not really grasping the concept that Ron and Hermione were dating. He was making it abundantly obvious that he wanted to make their relationship more than just a student/teacher one.

"Hermy-own? May I haff a vord?" he asked one day after class. Hermione stayed. Ron lingered behind, unnoticed by Viktor, and packed up his and Hermione's stuff painstakingly slowly.

"What is it, sir?" she asked.

"You can call me Viktor after class you know," he mentioned.

"Okay, _Viktor_, what would you like to talk about?" she reiterated, stressing his name, even though she just wanted to get away from him.

"I vas vondering what you were thinking of doing after graduation?"

"Well, I was thinking of working for the ministry, for the Magical Creatures department or something in Law Enforcement."

"That's vonderful," he said. "But I vas thinking…haff you thought about us?"

"Viktor, you and I will be **friends**, always **friends**," Hermione said loudly, as if trying to get her message to sink in.

"Friends? Vhy only friends? Ve are connected deeper, I thought, through our letters," he protested. Now Ron was getting angry. He stood up and confronted Viktor. Ron's 6'4" muscular frame towered over the stocky 5'9" Seeker.

"Look, _sir, _she said she only wants to be friends, back off," Ron said in a dangerous calm, his teeth clenched tightly.

"Vat are you, her body guard?" Viktor scoffed, giving Ron a disgusted look.

"No, but I am her _boyfriend_," said Ron, putting his arm protectively around Hermione. "If you'll excuse us, we need to start our homework that you assigned." The couple strode out of the classroom. Ron was carrying their books over his left shoulder, his right arm still tightly clinging to her shoulder. They didn't speak until they got to the common room; Ron looked around, noticed there was a fair amount of people still left in there, and led them up to his dorm room.

"Are you okay?" he asked tentatively, as she sat on his bed.

"Yeah," she let out a deep breath that she didn't even know she was holding. "He was never like that before. He used to always be contented with just being my friend."

Ron wrapped his arms around her, drawing her closer to his chest. She listened carefully to him as well as his heartbeat, knowing that it beat for her. "You will never have to be worried about him again; I'll always be here for you. He was too old for you, he's what, like twenty one?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"I'll always be here for you," he murmured against her bushy hair.

"To protect me?"

"Yes, to protect you, to be with you, to love you," he stated, looking into her chocolate brown eyes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

All six of the teens noticed how much harder all the classes were; all of the teachers were giving extensive notes and mounds of homework. Their homework was so vast and tiresome that they all had taken to living in the Head's common room. Professor McGonagall said she didn't honestly mind. "It's the Heads' prerogative," she had said. They were there through all their breaks and meal times. Kreacher, and even Winky on occasion, would alternate bringing food from the kitchens when they wanted to eat and not take a break from their studies. Each of them would either do their homework together or help each other out. Hermione and Luna had the busiest schedules and they were about to crack from the pressure.

"Aghh, I just can't take it anymore," Hermione said, falling back on her bed, just finishing the longest translation she had ever been assigned for her Ancient Runes class. She put her hands to her head, pulling her hair and sighing deeply.

"You just need to relax," Ron said from his position on the floor across from her. All of his homework and Quidditch strategies were strewn all over the floor. "Take your mind off things for a while, you know?"

"What do you suggest then, Mister I-have-no-more-homework?"

"I do have to make strategies for Quidditch practices you know," he said pointedly. "Just change into a tank top or something and lay down on the bed, on your stomach." He got up off the floor and headed into the bathroom. He collected a few towels and brought them back to her room. She was in a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, lying face down on her bed, waiting for her de-stressing.

"You ready?" he asked.

She nodded her head. Ron slipped a rolled up towel under her head, wrapping it so it created a u-shape around her face. He kept it nice and warm with a warming charm. He summoned her favorite lotion and heated it slightly as well. Taking a bit in his hands, he began to massage the cream into her arms. His fingers seemed to emanate magic; he made circular movements with the pads of his thumbs.

"Ohhh," Hermione moaned as he worked his way up to her shoulders. He felt the large knots; most likely from stress and all those books she was carrying around.

"Let me know if I'm hurting you," he warned.

"It's all good pain," she murmured. She couldn't believe Ron knew how to do this. He continued him methodical rubbing. He ended up straddling her hips, working on her back. He thought he pushed too hard at one point, feeling her back crack.

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling his hands away.

"It's okay, don't worry," she said.

"I can't really get this knot out, would you consider taking your shirt off?"

With out hesitation she grabbed and flicked her wand. Her shirt disappeared completely, leaving her bra only. "Keep going."

He did as he was told. His thumbs pressed along her naked spine, allowing the rest of his fingers to splay across the sides of her back, down to her ribs. They felt so good, so comforting to her. Her spine cracked several times before he reached the waistband of her shorts. He traveled down to her feet. When he pressed the heel of his hand into the arch of her foot, a wave of pleasure took over her body, causing her to shiver. He continued his foot massage, tickling her every now and then. Ron moved to her legs, he could feel their softness and slight muscle. He slowly worked his way back to where her shorts started. He muscles tightened slightly as his fingers wandered briefly under her shorts.

"Feel better?"

"Loads," she said, rolling herself over. She leaned up and kissed him in thanks. "Thanks. Where's you learn to do that?" She began to put her shirt back on.

"Dad taught all the boys, saying 'Your wives will thank you later',"

"So we were supposed to be married?" she joked.

"No, but Dad wasn't trying to egg us on or anything."

"Sure," Hermione giggled. "Now, which book did you use for all the transfiguration homework?" Ron handed her a book from his mess of work, stating that his mum must have used this book to create the questions in the first place, because all the answers were in order and very specific to the questions.

"Say, have you noticed a change in Draco this year?" Hermione asked as she copied down an answer.

"You're calling him Draco now?" he mentioned.

"Why not? He doesn't call me 'Mudblood' anymore, or 'Granger'," she reminded him. "And he even called you, Gin, and Harry all by your first names."

"I know, it just seems strange, after all these years of him and his pureblood mania. Now he seems like a regular bloke."

"Yeah, I can't believe it either."

Ron sat on bed with Hermione for a while. She finished her Arithmancy, transfiguration, and History of Magic homework; he helped her as much as he could. He ended up slipping though her CD collection and putting one in the charmed player. He loved Dash Board Confessional.

**We watched the season pull up its own stage  
And catch the last weekend of the last week  
Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced  
Another sun soaked season fades away**

**You have stolen my heart  
You have stolen my heart**

**Invitation only grant farewells  
Crash the best one of the best ones  
Clear liquor and cloudy eyed, too early to say goodnight**

**You have stolen my heart  
You have stolen my heart**

**And from the ballroom floor we are a celebration  
One good stretch before our hibernation  
Our dreams assured and we are; we'll sleep well  
Sleep well  
Sleep well  
Sleep well**

**You have stolen my, you have stolen my  
You have stolen my heart**

**I watch you spin around in the highest heels  
You are the best one of the best ones  
We all look like we feel**

**You have stolen my, you have stolen my  
You have stolen my heart**

"Oh, I absolutely love that song," Hermione sighed, closing her book; she was finally done with her homework.

"Me too," Ron said quietly. He paused a moment. "Hermione, can I ask you something, and not have you think I'm anancyboy?"

"Sure"

"Well, since we both really like this song, and I heard that um… Muggle couples have 'songs', and I thought this could be our song," he finished.

"Wow," she said softly, placing her hand on his cheek.

"What?" Ron freaked, thinking he did something wrong.

"That's the most romantic thing you have ever done," she leaned over and kissed him sweetly. He grabbed her waist and drew her tightly to his chest. When they broke the kiss, she stayed hugging him close to her, letting her head rest on his chest. She loved to just sit there and listen to his heartbeat. It had a strange effect on her, almost a calming sense. They must have laid there for near a half hour, listening to the rest of the Dashboard Confessional tracks on the CD. Before long, Neville knocked on her door.

"You two want to come out for dinner? Winky's just brought steak and kidney pie."

"Sure, we'll be right down," Hermione called, noting that Ron's stomach growled at the mention of food. She crawled off of him, and straightened herself up. Ron casually ran his fingers through his hair before offering her his large, yet inviting, hand.

"Shall we?" he said, extremely properly, bowing slightly to her. She giggled as she accepted his hand and the two made their way down to the Head's common room. Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Ron, and Hermione dined on the excellent feast, prepared by their two favorite house-elves.

"So, Luna, how are your classes going so far?" Ginny asked after swallowing a large chunk of bread.

"Rough, although I'm really starting to like History of Magic; Binns is really starting to delve into the 1900's and more recent history."

"Same here," said Hermione after swallowing a mouthful. "Maybe by the end of the year, he might get to Dumbledore's greater accomplishments. There was also talk about her making us get Rita Skeeter's book so he could teach us fact from fiction in his life."

"Maybe," Luna said dreamily.

"Luna? Are you going to eat?" Neville enquired. "You're looking a bit thin lately."

"Oh, I guess I just get so caught up in my homework, I forget," she said. Luna was probably one of the only girls in the world who wouldn't get offended when Neville said things like that.

"You need to stay here more then, so you can be reminded," Neville said. "Between Harry, Ron, and I, you'll never forget to eat."

After they all had their fill of food, Harry suggested that they all go down to visit Hagrid. As they left and walked down there, Neville entertained them with stories from his Care of Magical Creatures class; apparently there was still one blast-ended skrewt left. Once they walked down there, Harry knocked on the door.

"One mo', Hagrid's voice boomed from within. A large, rugged, bushy haired man opened the door and a big grin broke out on his beard-covered face. "'Arry, 'Ermione, Ron, do come in. 'Ello Neville, Luna, Ginny!"

"Hey Hagrid," Harry greeted his old friend. "How are things?"

"Rather good, all things considered," he said. "Me and ol' Olympe are on better terms now, now that er'thing's done n' over with."

"You two were fighting?" Hermione and Ron asked in unison.

"Yeah, mainly how I was always puttin' meself in danger fer Dumbledore and you guys."

"But that war must have affected her too, I meanFranceisn't that far," Ron said.

"Yeah, she 'elped ter protect 'er school. It stayed safe enough though," Hagrid said gruffly.

"So, you two dating or what?" Harry asked tentatively.

"You could say that," he said smiling, his beady black eyes twinkling.

All six of them stayed and reminisced on old times, sharing quite a few laughs among all the things they had done around Hagrid and in his classes, until twenty minutes before curfew. Hagrid escorted them back up to the castle and bade them good night. They all headed back to the Head's dormitory, making the common room ready for bed. Hermione conjured three king-sized beds where they could sleep comfortably: Neville with Luna, Ron with Hermione, and much to Ginny's insistence, Harry with Ginny. Harry and Ginny were still just friends, and only the other two couples seemed to believe them now.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

They still had a bit of warm weather, so they went swimming on theBlackLakethat weekend. Hermione hadn't ever gone into the water because she was always studying of always doing homework. This was the last weekend, so she decided to surprise them all by going out. Once they were all down by the lake, the boys ran into the water while the girls finished getting undressed. Ginny was wearing a dark green bikini with boy cut bottoms; Luna had a purple one-piece with such a plunging neckline that you could see her bellybutton; and Hermione was wearing the same bathing suit that she wore when she and Ron went to Australia. All three boys looked at them in disbelief; they didn't know their girls could look so good with such little clothing on.

"'Mione, is that you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, now look at Ginny and stop drooling over me," she chided gently. Hermione had never really heard people tell her she looked good, or had these kinds of reactions to how she looked, it just was different, and she was going to have to get used to it. She waded out into the water, to where Ron was, and she kissed him. When they broke apart, she pushed him back so he fell under the water. Ron surfaced and shook his head like a dog, a tendency he acquired ever since he managed his animagus transformation. The droplets of water splattered all over Hermione.

"Hey, do you guys know how to do chicken fights?" Harry asked. Most of them shook their heads. Hermione, being Muggle-born, knew how to. She and Harry explained to the rest of the group how it was played and what they objective was. Harry submerged himself and Ginny clambered up onto his shoulders. He shot up out of the water and she screamed. Harry laughed but he kept his hold tight around her thighs. Ron got Hermione up on her shoulders, making them the tallest couple.

"Luna and I will face the winner," Neville proclaimed and everyone agreed. With the girls poised on their shoulders, the two men advance on each other. The girls grasped hands and began to maneuver each other, giggling a lot, trying to unseat one another. Ginny thought she could draw on her Quidditch strength to unseat the bookworm; unfortunately for Ginny, she underestimated the bookworm. Hermione knew the logical aspect; she caught Ginny off balance and pushed her back and to the left: angles and leverage. Ginny fell back and Harry went down with her. He grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her above the surface, gasping for air.

"Yeah!" Ron cheered, spinning around punching the air, Hermione still on his shoulders. There were people sitting on the shore, watching this friendly competition.

"Good fight mate," Harry said to Ron.

"Alright, Ron, bring it on!" Neville said, laughing, Luna perched on his shoulders. The usual dream look on her face was replaced with one of pure resolve. Harry started the fight and the girls went at each other. Luna was a bit loony but she wasn't in Ravenclaw for nothing; she knew all the strategies better than the Gryffindor. After only two minutes of wrestling, Luna caused the other couple to topple backwards into the water.

"Yeah!" Neville cheered while lifting Luna off his shoulders. She hugged him while everyone cheered them on from the shore. Neville leaned down and kissed lips gently. He was about to pull away when she began to pull him back, deepening the kiss. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny cheered them on, knowing that this was their first public display of affection, at least in front of a large group of people. Neville broke the kiss when he was becoming short on air. He looked around, looking embarrasses. He shrugged sheepishly at his friends.

They played around in the water for several more hours. After a while they got bored so they got out and lay down on some towels. The girls lay out to tan but the guys were a bit apprehensive about this. They knew that everyone would be ogling their girlfriends. "Ron, we'll be fine," she assured him. "I've fought Death Eaters; I think I can handle a few hormonal teenagers."

"I know, I just don't think I can handle all of those guys looking at you."

"Well, you think I like all the girls who are currently looking at your chest?"

"No one's looking at me," he insisted.

"Then no one is looking at me either," she said.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"Hey Mione," Luna called. "You know what, you should write a book about what happened during the war from our perspective." She looked up from her history of magic book.

"You know what, that sounds like a pretty good idea actually," Hermione agreed. They lay there quietly discussing what would be in it, and Hermione took notes on a spare little notebook that she always kept in her bag.

Once the sun started to set, they packed up, got changed, and headed back up to the castle. After several competitive games of exploding snap between Ron and Ginny, games of chess between Harry and Neville, they finally all went to bed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 Halloween**

**A/N: This chapter starts the M rating, if you don't like it, don't read it. Also, someone posted an anonymous review for the last chapter about some aspects I included... honestly, if you don't like something, like the fact that I wanted the characters to have a Chicken Fight, then keep it to yourself. I take constructive criticism, not blatant rudeness. This story has some cannon, but this is what I want to happen to the characters. Now they are going to have Halloween, even though people will feel the need to tell me that they don't have Halloween over there... too freakin' bad, I want them to have Halloween damn it = P**

**For those of you who are enjoying this story, I hope this chapter gives you some entertainment, and a bit of smut mixed in = ) Happy reading! (oh, and reviews are nice)  
**

October seemed to just fly by, courses and all, causing everyone to look forward to Halloween. "May I have your attention please? This Halloween we are instituting an old tradition, which has been tucked away, so to speak, since 1975 (**A/N: This goes along with another story that I will be finishing writing and posting hopefully this summer called Changes**). We are going to have a Halloween costume ball," Professor McGonagall said. Applause erupted from all around the Great Hall, especially from the seventh years. They wanted a bit more excitement this year. "This dance will be open to all students, but the first and second years may only attend until ten. The rest of you may attend until one in the morning. You will be able to go into Hogsmeade village this weekend to collect your costumes and such. And please note that all costumes should be school appropriate. I hope you all can be judges to that," she warned. "I will be holding a prefects meeting to discuss further plans this week, so see them about the details."

There were a good two weeks before the dance; ample time for people to get their costumes as well as dates. Hermione and Ron were going together and so were Neville and Luna (as they were the only ones of their group of friends that were officially coupled up). The latter couple was going to go as Robin Hood and Maid Marion. Luna had seen Robin Hood the Disney movie in her Muggle Studies class and absolutely fell in love with that. "You have to be a very secure man to walk around in green tights, especially around Luna," Ron muttered to Neville in the common room. All Neville could do was blush which was what he did a lot because people would compliment him now on how good he looked.

Hermione and Neville met with the prefects to decide how they would decorate things in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall gave them the reasons as to why the ball had been suspended until now: The Marauders. They had played a prank on the entire student population and it made such a huge mess for the entire staff; something about blowing up a bunch of pumpkins simultaneously so no one would really get caught. The group decided on a Muggle themed ball; of which even Hermione didn't even have that much experience with. She was rather lonely as a child, and wasn't invited to many parties; so she got some help from different Muggle-borns in their year. They would have everything in black and orange. There would be traditional Muggle decorations: black and orange crêpe paper, spider webs, rubber bats, ect… All the food would also be Muggle themed, with scary food items. Along with all the food there would be Muggle as well as wizarding sweets strewn all over the tables. Hagrid had sportingly agreed to grow them some oversized pumpkins and several of the artistic Hufflepuff's, and Dean Thomas, would be carving them to make scary faces and such.

Ron and Hermione disappeared into Hogsmeade late one night, through the one-eyed witch's passageway, under the cover of Harry's invisibility cloak. They bought their costumes, but refused to tell anyone who they were going to be going as. Harry still had to find a date though. Ginny ended up saying yes to Justin Finch-Fetchley. Harry was so angry over it, he almost couldn't stand it. He was even tempted to ask a Slytherin girl as revenge but decided against it; none of them were even remotely pretty, or nice for that matter.

'Why am I even angry over this,' he thought. 'She's not even my girlfriend.'

'_But you want to be her boyfriend_,' another voice inside his head reasoned.

'I broke up with her,' he argued back.

'_She said that she might take you back one day._'

'Well now she's going with someone else,' Harry sadly noted.

'_You should have asked her,_' the voice reasoned back.

"I should have," Harry said out loud, a note of defeat sounding in his voice. He ended up asking Hannah Abbott and she agreed to go. Bill had partnered them up one day in DADA, and they got to talking. Since she still hadn't been asked, Harry figured he would try his hand. She happily agreed to go with him. They decided to go as a mob boss and a call girl, but it was mainly Hannah's idea.

The day of the dance had arrived. Professor McGonagall gave the whole school off to prepare for the dance that night, a school treat. All the guys had been ready within a half an hour, and were just waiting for the girls to come down. Justin met the guys in Gryffindor tower, and Hannah was invited to get ready with the rest of the Gryffindor girls and Luna as well, since she was always there anyway.

Ron was going to be first to greet his date. He was wearing a simple black peasant shirt, opened slightly at the front, showing off his firm, freckle-spattered chest. This shirt was paired with simple black trousers that seemed to hug his legs, one of the features that Hermione was absolutely in love with. His long red hair was pulled back into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck, a habit he was getting more used to. His hair easily reached his shoulders and was always getting in his way during classes. He resigned himself to letting his mum cut it a bit for the dance, to better fit the role; even thought she would have it cut terribly short if she got her way. Hermione came down the stairs and was met with gasps from many of the other males in the room. She was wearing a peasant dress which was a bright red-orange color. It was very formfitting top and hung loosely from her hips to the floor and had a scoop neck with showed off the tops of her breasts. Her hair flowed loose and beautifully, her curls having been tamed now that her hair was long and heavy; they fell into gentle waves, cascading down her back. They were supposed to be the couple from Hermione's favorite movie when she was growing up, the Princess Bride. She made a mental note that when they were on winter break she would have to show Ron this movie somehow.

Neville had on a knee-length dark green tunic, paired with light green tights. His green cornered hat was the topper that made him look almost irresistible. Neville had more muscle than people gave him credit for; now you could clearly see his broad chest, defined arms, and well muscled legs. Since he grew out of his awkward stage, many girls inquired about him, but they were all turned away when they all heard that he was dating 'that odd girl from Ravenclaw'. Everyone thought she was odd until she came gliding down the stairs. Her dress was a pale pink dress that faded to a deep magenta as it reached the floor. The top was a scoop neck and the top was also fashioned like a corset, causing her breasts to nearly spill over the top of the dress; though she really didn't need the dress to do that. Luna actually looked like any normal girl in Hogwarts, but that's not why Neville was attracted to her. She was breathtakingly beautiful at this moment. Neville would have loved her if she was ugly, because he was in love with her person; but seeing her in this dress, his jaw would have hit the floor if it were possible. Harry had to push his chin up and close his mouth, less he look more like a fish. Luna giggled at his reaction, before walking – more like floated – over to him and gave him a gentle kiss.

Hannah came down next in a short blood red dress. It looked like she had been poured into it. Harry never really paid any attention to her body, but he did notice how she filled out the dress, the killer curves that she had hidden under the baggy robes that she wore. The dress was slit all the way up the side and was lace up with simple red silk material. The neckline was plunging to say the least. Her hair was twisted into an elegant knot at the back of her head, showing off her back; which Harry would say looked quite delectable, if he did say so himself. Harry greeted her and the bottom of the stairs. His black pinstriped suit made him look like a real mob boss; it was something that he found in a wizarding costume shop, because Muggle suits weren't a common occurrence in the robe-wearing wizarding world. Hermione had helped him find a spell to help his eyesight, which he was going to used on a regular basis, and he could go on without his glasses for long amounts of time. He had used a ridiculous amount of Sleak-Eazy's hair potion that it was slicked back like Draco used to wear his hair during their first and second years. They certainly made a handsome couple.

Ginny was the last to come down, but was taking her sweet old time with it. Justin stood there waiting. His costume was really wild. He had on a tight, red suede shirt that had bell sleeves. It dipped low in the front, leaving his sparse chest exposed and he wore a gold medallion. His pants were blue crushed velvet. He looked like he had gone to see a stylist back in the seventies and came back still wearing the clothes.

"What are you supposed to be?" Ron asked, looking him up and down skeptically.

"A pimp," Justin replied, not realizing what this could do to him. Ron's face turned red and it was spreading to the tips of his ears.

"You had better not say that Ginny is a hoe," Harry warned, his face contorting slightly in anger. Ron looked just as murderous.

"Hey, man, back off, this was her idea," Justin said, almost pleadingly; he started backing away from the duo slowly, not making any sudden movements.

"I don't care, no sister of mine is going to look like she is selling herself," Ron said hotly.

"I'm not going to be selling myself, I'm an entertainer from a club back in the seventies, not a hoe," Ginny said as she descended the stairs. Her costume made all the guys' jaws drop. She had on a pure shimmering gold halter, Harry didn't even think it could be considered, shirt. It was v-neck in the front and completely backless, minus one string across the middle of her back, and at the back of her neck. Her skirt tied off in one corner and was just shy of the middle of her thigh. You could see her entire right leg in the slit in the skirt, and Harry looked rather appreciatively at that luscious right leg. (**A/N: Think Beyonce's first costume in Goldmember, although I made the skirt much shorter = P**).

"Bloody hell," Harry murmured. Justin nearly fell over once she came to stand near him, her hips swaying maddeningly as she walked.

All the couples headed down to the Great Hall together, greeting other people as they went. It looked wonderful. Hagrid had really grown some big pumpkins and those Hufflepuffs were absolutely amazing, all the designs were both Muggle and Wizarding (one was a scene from the Nightmare Before Christmas). Professor McGonagall and several of the other teachers had shown their holiday spirit by dressing up. She had on a Muggle version of a witch's costume: a tattered floor length gown, a fake broom, and a large pointed black hat. Professor Flitwick poked fun at his size by dressing up as one of the dwarves from the movie Snow White, Doc. Bill decided to bring Fleur and they were a devil and an angel. Bill wore an all white suit and a halo charmed to float a few inches above his head and Fleur wore a small tattered, yet stylish, red dress. Viktor had brought his older sister, Sheena Krum, and they were dressed up like cave people. It was an uncanny likeness that they didn't need make up or anything, just the animal print clothing; although the clothes were probably far sluttier looking than had been back then. The Weird Sisters were on the stage performing, playing several selections while the students enjoyed their meal.

Harry looked around at many of the other students: Draco came with Susan Bones; they were dressed as Zorro and Elena. Dean came with Emma Young, a Hufflepuff seventh year; they were a football player and a cheerleader. Ernie MacMillian came with Julia Clearwater; they were Wolf and Virginia from the movie theTenthKingdom. Everyone looked so beautiful. After their meal, the Weird Sisters played a few slow songs, just as a warm up.

"Would you care to dance?" Harry asked, offering his hand to Hannah. She blushed and put her hand in his. He led her onto the dance floor and curled his hand around her waist, the other one still gripping hers. They maneuvered themselves around the dance floor; Harry's dancing had improved considerably since the Yule ball in fourth year. His nervousness had worn off. Their bodies were fairly close but they weren't as close as some others that were on the dance floor. Ginny was nearly glued to the front of Justin. The creature that had, up until this point, lay dormant in Harry's chest since his sixth year was now wide awake and roaring in protest to the actions that this couple was performing, especially with his Ginny. The creature made him want to rip Justin to shreds and take Ginny right there on the dance floor. Ron and Hermione didn't even notice because he was leading her gracefully around the dance floor. He didn't even step on her feet once, much to Hermione's pleasure.

Once the music started to pick up and the dance floor became thick with people, Hannah left to go get a drink. This left Harry to dance with the many people who surrounded him. He felt someone come up to him after a moment or two and press their chest into his back. He felt breasts on the chest, so he could assume that it was a female. They were gyrating their hips, swaying to the beat of the music. He spun around in her arms, to face this unknown dance partner. He found Ginevra Molly Weasley. His eyes roamed over her figure, which he could now ogle up close: her red hair was pulled off her back, being swept back into a long, haphazard ponytail; her slender shoulders and torso, freckle spattered chest, covered with gold silk; he could see ample cleavage, something he didn't know she had that much of; the majority of her flat stomach was exposed and looked absolutely delicious. He let his hands rest on her hips, which were now gyrating up against his pelvis. Soon his hips were reciprocating the movements, in time with the music. She looked up at him, her amber eyes penetrating his emerald green ones.

"Where's Justin?" Harry asked, his breathing slightly ragged.

"I ditched him," Ginny said huskily. Not breaking eye contact.

"Why?" Harry held his breath for her answer.

"He said I kept looking at you," she murmured, running her hands up his chest. He felt the creature in his chest roar again, but this time it was out of triumph. His hands moved lower on her lower back, pulling her flush against him. She let out a gasp of surprise.

"And why were you looking at me?" he asked in her ear as she turned around in his strong arms. Her back was now facing him but she still danced just as close.

"Because you look hot," she leaned back and rested her head on his chest, running her hands up his neck and messing with his gelled hair. His hands moved sensuously over her stomach, feeling the toned muscles she had gained from Quidditch training. "Where's Hannah?"

"She went off to get drinks," Harry said, looking around for his date and found her with Ginny's date, snogging by the drinks table. "I think our dates are interested in each other."

Ginny followed his gaze, finally seeing what he had. "Good, they found someone who actually wants to be with them." The music sped up, and Ginny gyrated harder against his pelvis. He could feel a stirring down below his pelvis and Ginny could feel it too. She enjoyed the fact that she could bring this reaction out in him. After a few more songs Harry leaned down and asked if she wanted to get drinks. She nodded and, still pressed rather closely to him, moved their way through the crowd over to the drinks table. Justin and Hannah had vacated the area, in favor of the darker corner farther away from everyone. Hermione and Ron walked over to them and the looked a bit leery. Hermione grabbed Ginny and they walked over to a table and sat down, ready to have a serious talk. Ron pulled Harry aside to talk to him as well.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked.

"What?" Harry tried to feign dumb, but failed abysmally.

"You and my little sister out there on the dance floor," Ron said, anger now permeating his calm facade.

"I don't honestly know," Harry said, really telling the truth this time. "She was dancing up behind me and we ended up dancing together."

"So what's up with you two?" Ron asked, still a bit peeved that any guy would dance with Ginny like that.

"I don't really know, she hasn't said anything."

"Umm… Where'd your date run off to?" Ron asked.

"I think," Harry said looking at the dark corner, "that she and Ginny's date are over there snogging."

"Tough luck," Ron said mockingly.

"Yeah, at least my new dance partner looks better."

"Now come on!" Ron protested. "Hannah isn't that bad looking."

"You had better not let Hermione hear that," Harry joked.

"I won't, but you have to agree with me," Ron reasoned.

"She's not bad looking, but Ginny's way better."

"I think most guys would agree to that."

_Meanwhile…_

"Ow, Hermione, let go," Ginny cried as Hermione grabbed her arm and drug her over to a table away from the guys. Once they sat down at the table, Ginny started up. "What the bloody hell did you do that for?"

"Because I just saw you practically attached at the hip with Harry on the dance floor," the older girl cried. "And I would like some answers please."

"Oh, you saw that did you?" Ginny asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. She looked like a kid who just stole a cookie from the jar before dinner.

"Yes, now spill it!" Hermione giggled. "Why?"

"I don't know; I saw Hannah leave to go get drinks or something. He looked lonely, and a bit lost to be honest. So I went and danced up behind him and we just ended up staying there together. He's very good at that now though," She added as an after thought, smiling slyly.

"So what is the deal with you two?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know"

"How can you not know? You were all over him out there!"

"So what if I have a physical attraction?" Ginny said defiantly. "I mean, even you have to admit, he has a good body; and he's pretty hot, according to most of the female population here."

"Yeah, you're right," Hermione conceded. "But I know you have an emotional connection with him. You even told him that you would like to get back together with him."

"I know…" she trailed off looking over the crowd to where Harry and her brother were. They were coming to the table. "I'll talk to you more about it later."

"Okay," Hermione whispered.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, hearing a slow song coming on. "Would you care to dance?"

"Sure," Ginny said happily. She hopped out of her seat and linked her arm with the one he was proffering. They weaved their way through the other couple and began a slow dance. Harry had one arm curled around her waist, holding her flush against him, his other hand held hers carefully in his and rested them against his chest. She laid her head on his shoulder, listening to his steady heartbeat that drowned out all the other sounds at the dance.

Ron and Hermione watched in amazement as they danced similarly. "How can they be relaxed like that?" Ron asked.

"Because they're soul mates," Hermione said wistfully. "They do want to be together, but Ginny feels like people will be cynical of her because of their breakup."

"But if they're soul mates, it shouldn't matter if they are together or tonight. They should just get together, no matter what everyone else thinks."

"I wish it were that simple," Hermione signed.

"Oh, but it is, my dear," Ron said, lightly kissing the top of her head. "Just look at us."

"True," she said and leaned up to kiss him for all to see.

It was nearing eleven and all the younger students had finally cleared out and went up to bed. Hermione and Ron had just taken a break from dancing and Ron had to use the loo. Hermione went to go get drinks for them, but was accosted by none other than Viktor Krum. His caveman outfit did show off his Quidditch muscles but Hermione didn't really even care.

"Hermy-own, you look lovely," he whispered in her ear, trailing his finger across her shoulder. She shivered, not out of pleasure, but out of disgust. "You sure have turned into a fine vitch, Hermy-own."

"Um… thank you Viktor, but I must be going," she tried to step around him but she found him to be in front of her again.

"Do you love him?" Viktor asked, keeping her from walking away by putting a hand firmly on her shoulder.

"Let me go," she warned.

"Do you love him?" he asked loudly again.

"Yes," she said defiantly. "Now can I go?"

"No, how could you love him. He vas horrible to you for years."

"I don't care," she spat. "I love him!"

At the same time…

Ron was headed back from the loo and was confronted by Sheena Krum. She was very appealing to the eye, but Ron only had eyes for Hermione. "Vood you care to dance?" she asked sensuously, rubbing her hand on his exposed chest.

"Er… No, I have to get back to my girlfriend." Ron tried to back away without turning his back on her, in case something would happen.

"Why don't you wait until she's done flirting with my brother," she said smugly, pointing over at Hermione and Viktor. Ron felt angered, Viktor was touching her, he hated when others toughed her. He began to walk over to her and was about to give his professor a piece of his mind when he heard Hermione say, "I don't care, I love him."

"I love you too, 'Mione," he said softly from behind her. She turned around sharply and looked up at him, surprised.

"What?"

"I. Love. You," he repeated slowly, putting his hands on her waist.

"Are you ser—" he cut her off by pushing his lips lightly against her. His grip tightened on her waist as he pulled her closer. When they broke apart, Ron faced Viktor.

"Leave her alone or you will have to deal with me," he growled. He kept a tight grip around Hermione's waist, keeping her flush against his side. Viktor slumped away, off in the direction of his sister. He began to yell at her in Bulgarian. Hermione could only understand a few words, something about her not trying hard enough. A slow song started up again and Ron turned to her. "Would you care to dance?"

"I'd love to," she smiled, and pushed herself closer to him.

There was a break in the music while the Weird Sisters were packing up for the night, so Professor McGonagall put on a magical CD player and put on music from Muggles and Wizards. Ginny, who was still facing Harry, began to move her hips in the same way as earlier. Harry trailed a hand down her cheek to her neck, shoulder, back, and settled on her hips. They gyrated closely together for a few songs. When Ginny felt the need to get closer to him, she slid her hands over his chest and to the back of his neck, entwining her hands in his hair. She tugged lightly at the locks and pulled his head down to meet her in a kiss. A few people surrounding them gasped, but the rest didn't notice, nor did they care. He responded immediately and the creature in his chest nearly exploded out with triumph when their tongues met. They battled against on another, fighting for the control that neither one would gain for more than a moment or two. He moved his hands from her hips and snaked their way into her silky red hair, which he released from her ponytail, and pulled her closer to him.

He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, looking her in the eye. She had a determined look in her eyes, a look that he had grown to love. "Ginny?" he murmured.

"Hmm?"

"What was that for?"

"You looked like you tasted good," she shrugged.

"Well…?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I was right," she whispered, pulling his head back down for another kiss. He returned it eagerly. Ron looked on and grimaced; even after two years he still could not get used to the fact that anyone was kissing his little sister.

They danced until the end of the ball; Professor McGonagall shooed them all at one in the morning. Ginny gripped Harry's hand and they practically ran back to their tower and she pulled him up to his bedroom, knowing full well that she couldn't get him up to her room because of the curse on the stairs.

"Ginny, wait," he gasped as she pushed the jacket off his shoulders and began to undo his tie.

"No," she whispered hoarsely as she kissed him again. He let all his inhibitions fly out the window for once in his life, but he did have one last coherent thought. He pressed his hand to her stomach. She felt it grow warm; the contraception charm had been cast. Ginny kissed him again, and he felt her fingers undo the buttons on his shirt effortlessly. The silk shirt fell from his shoulders. Her hands swam over his bare skin.

"Hang on!" she said, grabbing his wand from his hip pocket. "Scourgefy," she said, pointing his wand at his hair. The entire potion cleared away from his hair, leaving his hair back to its messy, normal style. She ran her fingers through it, loving the sounds he was making. "Much better."

He kissed her quickly but turned his attention to her jaw line and neck. Ginny moaned but gasped when she heard Dean coming up to the bedroom. Harry effortlessly guided her back over to his bed. They clambered onto it and closed the hangings. He cast the silencing charm and also the imperturbable charm so no one could get to them.

"Hey Harry?" Dean asked. He tried to pull the hangings back but couldn't even touch them. "Bloody hell Potter!" he sounded amused but left them alone just the same. Ginny rolled them over, landing on top, she kissed his neck and chest, making him groan. Her hands slid down to undo his belt, and his pants button. He helped her to get them off. His hands went to the ties that held her top together, he pulled on the strings and it came undone. The gold silk material fell away, leaving her decent sized breasts open for him to see. His hands traveled up her sides while still looking her in the eye. He brushed his thumbs over her breasts, causing her to shiver. He quickly flipped her so she was under him. His hand traveled up to her left breast and gave it a quick squeeze, 'It's firm yet soft at the same time,' he thought.

Ginny threw her head back, moaning and arched her back to she could press more fully into his hand. He began to kiss her with greater fervor; his lips were rough and demanding. Her hands gripped at his back, pressing her fingers to his shoulders; she loved the pressure of his body on top of hers. His hand left her breast and went down to undo the sting of her skirt. When he slipped it away he found a silky gold g-string.

"Ginny?" he whispered while he caressed her hip, pulling back and looking at her.

"Yes, Harry, please," she groaned, pulling his lips back down to hers. Her hand wandered downward and cupped him through his boxers, which were only a thin layer of black silk. "I know you want it as much as I do."

She was right, she could feel the effect she had on him, and it was by no means small. Ginny moved her hand inside his boxers, up and down his length, making Harry groan. He slipped his hands into the waist band of her knickers and pulled them down and away from her body. She returned the favor, and relieved him of his boxers. He let his body cover hers.

"Are you sure?" he asked tentatively, brushing his lips against hers.

"Yes," she said, grabbing him lightly, and guiding him to the warm place between her legs. "Just go slow."

Harry nodded. She could feel him start to push into her and it felt glorious, mainly pleasure, with very little pain. He kept up his painstakingly slow pace until he was about halfway in. she needed all of him, and she needed it now.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I need all of you now," she moaned, and gasped when his hips snapped forward, filling her completely. "Ohh," she moaned, wiggling her hips, trying to get accustomed to his size. He began to move slowly in and out of her, but Ginny couldn't take it anymore. "Faster," she urged, her hands gripping on his hips to urge him on.

Harry complied, his hips moved a whole lot faster, he leaned down to kiss her, almost tasting the sensations he was wringing from her. Soon, her hips were meeting his, thrust for thrust. She was crying out his name over and over, very glad that Harry had put up the silencing charm. Ginny felt the sensations beginning in her stomach; her grip tightened on his shoulders, digging in her nails. He gasped at the pain but felt a sensation that was very similar to Ginny's, and he knew he was close. He snaked his hand down her side and down past her stomach, and touched her _spot_. She cried out in pleasure, so he rubbed it a few more times. She came, screaming his name. When her walls tightened around him, it was enough to send him over the edge as well.

He groaned, spilling himself into her and collapsing on top of her. She felt wave after wave of pleasure, then gently floated back to Harry. She stroked his hair, waiting for him to come back as well.

"Am I too heavy?" he asked, finally gathering enough energy to kiss her cheek.

"No, just perfect," she replied. But he rolled over to his side, looking down at his favorite redhead. His hand traced small designed on her stomach.

"Are you okay?" he asked the very loaded question.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, looking him in the eye. She summoned his dress shirt and put it on. He slipped back into his boxers, not quite feeling up to putting his pajamas on. He pulled the covers back down and they slipped under them and cuddled together for warmth.

"I love you, you know," Harry said quietly as she was drifting off to sleep, her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest.

"I do too," she mumbled. He put his arms around her and drew her in closer. He breathed in her scent, flowers and strawberries. Harry fell asleep stroking her beautiful red hair.

Ron woke up the next morning and nuzzled his nose into Hermione's bushy brown hair. She had asked him to sleep next to her last night, and he happily complied. All of them practically slept in the Head's dormitories anyways. "I never saw Harry and Ginny come in last night, did you?" Ron asked.

"No," Hermione replied sleepily. She stretched like Crookshanks would. Her feet barely touched his. "You want to go get some breakfast?"

"Sure," he said, still looking worried about Ginny.

"Don't worry Ron, I'm sure she's asleep in her dormitory," Hermione said. "I'll go check after breakfast if you'd like."

"Alright then," Ron said, getting up. He changed into his spare pair of clothes he kept in her room. She changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. They had a quick breakfast in the Great Hall before they headed off to Gryffindor tower. Hermione headed up to Ginny's bedroom, but only found her room mates.

"Girls!" Hermione yelled. "Where's Ginny?"

"She never came up last night," one girl grumbled.

"What do you mean she never came up?"

"She looked pretty cozy with Harry last night, didn't she?" one girl asked.

"Bloody hell!" Hermione shrieked and ran down the girls stairs. She didn't even bother to look at Ron as he was going up the boys' stairs to find Harry, but she passed him nonetheless. They reached the room at near the same time and Ron just stood there flabbergasted.

"Ron?" Hermione asked timidly.

"He had better have drawn those curtains to keep the sunlight out," Ron said ominously.

"I'll check," Hermione said quietly. She made her way over to the bed and nonverbally ended the imperturbable charm. She pulled the curtains back and had to stop her gasp from coming out. Harry was shirtless and spooned up behind Ginny, who was only wearing his shirt. Ron walked over to Hermione when she hadn't said anything.

"Bloody-!" he began but Hermione turned around and effectively shut him up with a kiss.

"Shh…" she said when she broke the kiss. "Let them come to terms with what they did. They'll explain it to us when they are ready. Maybe they just fell asleep?"

"I hope they did," Ron grumbled before guiding her out of the room.

Ginny tried to stretch as she would every morning, and found that a hand currently wrapped around her waist was quite limiting. She turned to see who was providing her warmth: Harry James Potter. It took her a moment to remember everything that had happened last night. She turned over gracefully as she could in his arms, so she could face him. He sighed in his sleep. Ginny leaned in and kissed him softly. She moved her lips sensuously against his until he started to return the movement. She pulled away and he looked down at her. "Good morning sunshine," he murmured, kissing her forehead.

"Good morning handsome," she replied, running her fingers through his hair, which was messier than normal. "How'd you sleep?"

"Wonderful, since you were here," he said, gathering her up in his arms, her cheek pressed up against his chest. "Do you regret it?"

"No," she murmured. "But I think we really need to talk about this."

"Yeah, but lets go get some breakfast first."

"That would be a wonderful idea, if I had clothes," she said wistfully.

"I can call Kreacher to get some of your clothes," he suggested.

"No, I don't want your house-elf knowing that I shacked up with you last night. I'll just wear something of yours," she winked at him before rolling off the bed. He reached for her, but she sauntered over to his chest of drawers and rummaged through them for something suitable to wear. She finally pulled out a pair of Gryffindor sweat pants and an old t-shirt; his old dress shirt was discarded.

"You look adorable," he commented, seeing how his clothes hung very baggy on her. The pants fit her like some ofDudley's old things fit him at first, but she shrunk them down so they were only slightly big on her. Harry rolled out of bed and pulled on an outfit matching hers.

"Well, you look adorable as well," she said. She walked over to the bed and started to pull on her clothes off it, but Harry found her knickers before she did. He took them and hid them in a drawer. "I think I'll keep those as a reminder of last night."

"Just don't let Ron see," she joked.

"About him—" Harry asked, but Ginny cut him off.

"After breakfast," she said.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter ****14 A**** Few Meaningful Conversations**

Harry and Ginny, both clad in his sweats, left the safety of his dormitory. He poked his head out into the common room to check and see if anyone they knew was out there, namely Ron and Hermione. No one was there so Harry motioned to Ginny and they hurried through the common room and out of the portrait hole. The Fat Lady gave them both reproving looks, and the pair of them blushed profusely. As they walked through the halls, they got different looks from the various different houses: All the Gryffindors looked on in surprise, but were happy for them either way; the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had mixed reactions, some of them looked on in contempt at the way they danced but some were just pissed that they both ditched their dates, which were from their houses, and left with each other; the Slytherins sniggered and gave them disgusted faces and lewd comments.

"What are you looking at Malfoy?" Harry asked, returning his smirk.

"Oh, nothing," Draco returned. "You two looked pretty cozy since last night."

"What of it?" Ginny asked fiercely.

"I didn't mean anything by it," Draco said, mockingly lifting his hands in defeat. "But they sure might," he said pointing in the general direction of a mixed group of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and they didn't look the least bit pleased with the pair. Little did they know that Justin and Hannah hooked up and in reality just switched dates for the majority of the night.

They finally reached the Great Hall and they sat down at their usual seat, smack dab in the middle of the Gryffindor house table. Harry gathered himself a stack of chocolate chip pancakes and a few slices of bacon while Ginny ate some eggs and toast with jam as well. They kept glancing at each other, giggling nervously whenever they caught each other for a brief moment. When they both reached for the same pitcher of pumpkin juice, their hands touched. It would have been a tough contest to see which of them had blushed the most, because they were both the same color of 'Weasley Red'. Ginny moved her hand first, letting him fill his goblet first. He poured himself a glass then said, "Here," he indicated that she should hand him her goblet so he could fill it for her. She pushed her goblet toward him, and smiled warmly at him as he poured the opaque amber liquid.

"Thank you," she said rather quietly.

"You're welcome," he said, equally as softly. He placed his large, yet comfortable hand on the small of her back before resuming his breakfast. They ate the rest of their meal in companionable silence. Many people stared at them, including several teachers, but they didn't make anything of it for the time being. There would be a time and place for those things to be dealt with and this was no such time or place.

Once they were done their meal, they left and headed to the only place within the entire castle where they knew they could be comfortable and completely alone. Harry hoped the Room of Requirement was still there; last time it had been used, Crabbe had sent Fynde Fire to it, causing in to nearly be destroyed and killing the caster in the process. They finally reached the bare strip of wall outside the seventh floor corridor where they knew the room to be. Harry walked back and forth in front of the wall three times thinking, 'I wish for a place where Ginny and I can talk comfortably.' Harry opened his eyes and he saw a door appear. He opened the door and ushered Ginny inside, not knowing what they would find there. They actually found that the room was just perfect for their needs. It was no large than twenty feet by twenty feet, and the only piece of furniture that was still in it was a large oversized couch in front of a roaring fire. Harry had one final thought for the room before he completely devoted himself to the much needed conversation between him and Ginny, 'I need to have the room unplottable,' he thought; just in case Hermione and Ron wanted to check up on them with the Marauder's Map.

"I can't believe the room's still here," Harry said out loud, but it was more to himself than anyone else. He did detect the smell of ash that still lingered, but it wasn't more pungent than the smell that would come from a fire that burned not too long ago.

"Come on," she said, grabbing her hand lightly and lead her over to the couch. They sat down next to each other and just stared blankly into the fire.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny asked after several moments of tense, awkward silence.

"I'm just trying to get my thoughts together," he said quietly. "Why is this so awkward?"

"Because you're making it like that," Ginny reasoned. "What do you want to ask me?"

"Well… Why did you dance with me?" he asked finally.

"I guess you looked kinda lonely and lost," she said nervously.

"Hannah had left me for less than a minute before you came," Harry pointed out.

"I know," she said.

"I think Justin was probably pissed at you for leaving him."

"He found Hannah," Ginny passed off.

"So why did you dance with me?" he asked again. "Not that I minded, mind you, but I've never seen you dance like that before."

"I guess I should have asked you to the ball in the first place, but damn my feeling about tradition about having a guy ask you, being the proper thing to do and all," she scolded herself.

"I wouldn't have said no to you, I could never say no to you," Harry pleaded, completely honest.

"I only really went with Justin to make you jealous," Ginny admitted sheepishly.

"Really?" Harry asked, surprise in his voice.

"Yeah, same reason for the costume," she said sheepishly.

"Well, it definitely worked. I wanted to kill Justin as soon as you walked down the stairs, and I would have taken you right there on the stairs instead of waiting until later."

"You're date wasn't completely unfortunate looking though," Ginny said honestly.

"I only asked her as a friend, and she knew that. And as to why I wasn't all over her," Harry said. "No one holds a candle to you, Gin." Tears welled in her eyes, but she dared no let them fall.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Now for another important question."

"What?"

"Where in Merlin's name did you learn to dance like that?"

"Oh, well…" Ginny giggled, blushing slightly. "I like to dance around my room and I thought it would be quite fun. Mum doesn't know about it, but I've heard stories from Bill and Charlie when they used to go clubbing."

"I certainly enjoyed it," Harry commented.

"I could tell," Ginny sniggered.

"Er… Sorry about that," he muttered, feeling highly embarrassed.

"No, no, don't be embarrassed," she reassured. "It's just… Well, I didn't know that I could bring out that reaction in you."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who felt like that and I was the only one you were touching," Harry pointed out.

"Oh, really?" Ginny asked naively.

"You really don't know do you?" Ginny shook her head. "I've seen how the other guys in the castle, and outside of the castle for that matter, look at you. I've also heard what they say about you in the locker rooms while we are all changing from Quidditch. If you think we look good in our uniforms, well you look ten times better."

"I guess I never really noticed," she said honestly.

"Look, I was with you once, I just want to know if you'd be willing to be with me again," Harry said straight up.

"I just don't know," Ginny said. "I mean you left, you died, how do I know that you're not going to do that to me again? I was a real mess last summer you know."

"No one told me," said Harry.

"Well, I cried - yes I know - shocking, but I did. I knew you liked me, I just knew, and I didn't want you to let me go. I know a couple months ago you said I was just human for wanting you to stay. Well, if it's always got to feel like that again then… I d—don't want to be human anymore," Ginny said adamantly, the tears beginning to fall from her eyes. She turned away from him, not really wanting him to see her moment of weakness. Harry grabbed her chin and gently forced it back to face him again. She never looked more beautiful than she did now: wearing his baggy sweats, her hair hastily pulled up into a sloppy bun, and her teary eyes sparkling.

"No, you wouldn't," Harry said, full of knowledge and experience with this. "Believe me; hiding your emotions is very difficult. You're isolated, alone, no one around to help you. You need to be human, you need to have emotions, other than that there's no way you can win."

"But I don't know any other way," Ginny pleaded.

"Be with me," Harry said simply.

"But…" Ginny started. "How do I know you won't leave me like that again?"

"I won't," Harry said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms reassuringly. "You just have to trust me. Believe me, if you had the dream I has last night, you'd know it's true."

"What was the dream?" asked Ginny.

"Well, I was asleep," Ginny sniggered. "I meant in the dream. Well, anyway… We were sleeping in this huge king-sized bed and our room was huge. You were older, but not in a bad way (I really want to make a comment about fine wine aging the same way, but I fear that I'll be far too cheesy). I hear our door fly open and a little girl around ten comes in and jumps on me. She's crying so I hug her, trying to calm her down. When I ask her what's wrong, she tells me, "Al and James said I would be in Slytherin, and it gave me nightmares!' I could only assume that these would be our children. So I'm afraid you're stuck with me my dear."

"Oh, wow!" Ginny said.

"But here's the thing… I don't just want to ask you out because we slept together, I want it to be special, something you'll remember," Harry said nervously.

"Last night I won't likely forget," Ginny said slyly.

"That's not what I meant," Harry huffed. "Dirty little perv."

"Funny," she replied sarcastically.

"But I want to plan something special," Harry said earnestly.

"I guess I can deal with that for now," Ginny said.

"I'll even make the unbreakable vow," he added mockingly.

"Now that just ruined it, Potter," she smirked, continued in their last name plotting.

"Sorry Weasley," he smirked as well.

"What are we going to do with Granger and the other Weasley?" Ginny asked.

"I don't think she should tell them," Harry said. "Just don't know if they suspect anything."

"We'll just tell them that we just fell asleep and I stole your shirt, if they ask, mind you," Ginny came up with.

"I don't think they'll believe it," Harry said, a bit leery about the whole thing.

"I can be very convincing," Ginny said slyly.

"I know," he muttered under his breath. "Minx."

Harry and Ginny left the Room of Requirement after a little nap and headed back to Gryffindor common room. "Come on, I need to get changed," Ginny urged just as they passed the Head's common room.

"You look fine though," Harry pointed out.

"I can't wear your clothes forever you know."

'Well, I'd rather you did," he said.

"I guess I'll wear it, but I am keeping these, and shrinking them a bit," she warned.

"Fine by me," Harry said as he gave the password to the tapestry. They went in and saw the usual group: Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Luna. Harry and Ginny walked in and sat down on the couch as they normally did, as if nothing happened. They weren't going to say anything unless anyone brought it up.

"So where have you two been?" Ron asked. Harry looked at Ginny and nodded.

"We were just walking around the grounds," Ginny lied smoothly.

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Really," Harry said.

"I don't know, I can't tell if you are telling the truth or not?" Hermione said, concentrating hard on Harry's face. Harry quickly put up his mental barriers to block her out of his mind.

"Since when could you do Legilimency, my dear 'Mione?" Harry asked mockingly.

"Oh, well…" Hermione began nervously. "About that…"

"It's okay, I can block you out if you want now," Harry commented.

"Since when?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Well, Snape told me to keep my mind closed, so I tried. I was only able to do it for a while because Voldemort sent me visions when he was too pissed off to keep control on his emotions. I just kept putting up my barriers every night after the battle, out of habit I guess."

"That's incredible Harry," Hermione said, rather impressed.

"Thanks 'Mione," Harry murmured into her bushy brown hair.

"Harry," Ron said. "Get your hands off my woman and come play me in a game of chess."

"Awe, do I have to?" Harry whined and held Hermione closer to him, which caused everyone, including Ron, to chuckle.

"Yeah mate, come on!" Ron called.

"Alright, fine!" Harry huffed mockingly, but released the hold he had on Hermione anyway. Harry sat back down opposite of Ron and began playing a friendly game of chess with his best friend.

"We should make a wager," Ron suggested. Ron leaned in and whispered something in Harry's ear and Harry whispered something in return. They shook hands and continued their play.

Hermione and Ginny watched, and cheered them on while Neville and Luna were snogging in a back corner. It only took a half hour for Ron to trap Harry in a corner.

"Check and mate," Ron boasted proudly.

"So what was the wager?" Ginny asked.

"Well if I lost the bet then I wouldn't be allowed to kiss Hermione for an entire day and I couldn't spend the night in the Head's dorm. But if Harry lost he had to kiss Ginny for no less than seven seconds, and I'm counting."

"Why would you want Harry and I to kiss anyway?" Ginny questioned. She heard him grumble something about his girlfriend and feeling puckish.

"You don't have to if you don't want to though," Harry said softly.

"It's okay, I just can't believe Ron wants you to kiss me," Ginny smirked. Harry leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. It was a gently kiss at first but Harry dipped her back, over his arm, and turned the kiss into something that would be seen on theHollywoodbig screen. Ron counted slowly so their kiss lasted for like twenty seconds.

When Harry let her up, he looked at her sheepishly. "Er, that was part of the wager," Harry said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he blushed.

"That was brilliant," Ginny let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding until then. Harry chuckled and Ron announced he was hungry; shocker, and that they needed to go down to the Great Hall for some lunch. Harry and Ginny had successfully gotten through the first encounter with no incident; all the other ones wouldn't be nearly as bad.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 December

The blustery winds of November came and went with out much incident, a few intermittent snow falls that didn't last on the ground more than a few days. Quidditch was training suspended until after the holidays. There were going to be at least three matches per month so the houses get ample time to play each other more than once. Harry and Ron were training the team very hard with tactics and were going to start conditioning after the break.

Their classes had become considerably harder: Slughorn had them creating polyjuice potion, which only Harry, Hermione, and Ron knew how to make it; Hermione more so because she was the one who had actually made it when they were twelve. The rest of the class seemed to struggle, but were eager to learn from the surprisingly good Gryffindors. Neither one of them actually told Slughorn that they had accomplished this feat but they still thought he must have known somehow; he always gave them that look, like he knew they were up to no good.

Molly had them doing multiple transfigurations at once: starting with two quills, and now they were at the point where they could do two chairs. They would be working on adding more objects when they got the hang of more complex items in pairs. The class had to have more specific amounts of homework as well. Also teachers thought they'd give them more and more notes. At the end of the fall Molly had to go get two more notebooks per student and a few pens each. Her class seemed to agree that the notebooks and pens were far more useful than quill and parchment when it came to all the notes. They took a Hogsmeade weekend to go to the Muggle village closest to them and stock up for other classes. It may be a trend that might be implemented as mandatory in a few years or so. Molly reveled in the fact that everyone in her class seemed to get along, Malfoy was helping them, as well as receiving criticism from the others, especially Hermione. She and Draco were even paired together as partners on a project: and eight foot essay on the most notable figures in Transfiguration and what they were famous for. The essay was more for informative purposes than practical ones. They had practically spent the last three nights sitting up until all hours in the Head's dormitory working on the report. Ron didn't even mind that Draco was there. Sure, the first night he was there and every other night, Ron would just be 'doing homework' off in the corner. He even picked Hermione up and carried her up to bed after each night, allowing Draco to sleep on one of the transfigured beds that were there every night.

"Hermione?" Draco asked, looking up from his book.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, still amused at how he used her first name with ease after all these years, and after all those times of him tormenting her with those vulgar names.

"Is he here because of me?" He asked, still confused as to why Ron was down in the common room, just doodling on paper, as if trying to get some Quidditch strategies done.

"Well, sort of," Hermione said. "Usually it's just me, Neville, Luna, Ron, Harry and Ginny down here doing work; he's not really used to having someone new here. He is just being a bit over protective that's all."

"Old habits die hard don't they?" Draco chuckled. "Well, I do hope he knows that I'm with Susan now, right?"

"Yeah, he knows," Hermione replied nonchalantly. "Did you find the passages yet?"

"Yeah, it's on these four pages in this book, and these five pages in the other book," Draco replied.

"Okay, then let's—"

"Summarize it?" he cut her off.

"Yeah," she said, surprise in her voice. "Then we'll combine everything in the end."

"You're surprised that I know about how to write an essay," he mused.

"I guess," she said, her cheeks flushed pink.

"Before I skipped out last year, I did have the second highest grades, aside from you. I checked it with Professor McGonagall."

"Really?"

"Yeah, now come on let's tackle this essay," He prompted.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

While they were in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Viktor left Hermione alone; every since the incident at the dance. She was enjoying the time just learning from him and Bill, not having to worry about Viktor reading into things that she said. He even had a new respect for Ron, whom he now openly praised during classes. Not many in the class noticed the change, but those who knew the situation could tell. The class moved on to dark curses and both professors even decided to bring in a former student of the Beauxbaton Academy of Magic.

"This is my wife, Fleur Delacour-Weasley," Bill announced to the class one day. "Several of you may recognize her from when she was here for the Triwizard tournament a few years ago."

The majority of the guys, with the exception of Harry, Ron, and Neville, were completely entranced by her breath taking beauty, their mouths hanging open. . Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny noticed something else though. There was something different about the way she looked, like she was glowing more that usual; they all exchanged covert glances at each other and decided to confront them both after class about it.

"I would like to warn everyone, guys in particular, that she is a quarter veela, so back off," he said jokingly, but completely serious at the same time; this was a symptom of the cursed scars, he was now very protective of what was his. But if anyone had a wife like Fleur, they would be uber protective of her as well. Realization had hit many of the male occupants of the room; especially Draco, who began to stare at his shoes with great interest. This however, made Harry think about something; had Cedric been here, all of the original Triwizard champions would have been in the same room.

"The purpose of my wife being here is that she is… French," Bill announced proudly, as if everyone knew what he was talking about. The students looked at each other, questioning their teachers mental status.

"Vat Bill is meaning is that ve vill be seeing the effects off these spells vith different pronunciations," Viktor explained, and a few students nodded their heads in acceptance.

"We'll be demonstrating the Reductor curse for starters. You all will be required to write a two foot composition on the significant difference in all three of our spells, and try to give an explanation as to why you think it happened in that way."

"Reducto!" Viktor yelled, his Bulgarian accent sounding more gruff than normal, and pointed his wand at one of the four abandoned desks which were in the corner of the room. The light that was issued from the wand was a deep blood red. The desk in question burst into flames before crumbling to the ground mere seconds later.

There was a flurry of bags being opened, parchment being dug out and quills scratching on paper as Bill stepped up next and pointed his wand at the second table.

"Reducto!" Bill yelled, and a pure red light shot out at the desk. The spell collided with the desk and it just collapsed to a pile of ash.

"Reducto!" Fleur cried, her French accent abundantly obvious. An almost pinkish light was released from the confines of her wand, enveloping the third desk before it turned to ash as well.

"Now I know this may seem a bit unorthodox, but I can't resist. Harry would you be kind enough to join us?" Bill asked, motioning for him to join them at the front of the classroom.

Harry slowly rose from his seat, trying to avoid some of the looks of contempt that he was receiving from several of the younger students, and some of the old students gave him smug knowing looks. When he reached them, Bill clarified his reasons for wanting him. "You can do this spell nonverbally, right?"

"Er…Yeah," Harry replied nervously.

"Show the class how powerful the spell can be with no pronunciation at all," Bill prompted.

"I can take care of them 'Arry," Fleur purred as she read his mind. Harry smiled a knowing smile, no one would want to get on the wrong side of her anger, being French and all; she would keep all the negative comments to a minimum amongst the class. Viktor and Bill nodded in agreement with her and Harry sighed. He nodded his head as well, which earned himself two pats on the back and a kiss on each cheek from Fleur, as per usual.

"Alright then," Harry said, and turned to face the final desk. He pointed his wand at the desk and thought 'Reducto!' with all his might. The desk glowed white and disappeared in a cloud of dust.

"Wow!" several students murmured before taking the notes on this reaction.

"Will my family kindly stay after class," Bill announced after a few more spell demonstrations. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione gathered their things and made their way back to his desk. He had his head in the fireplace, flooing his mother. A few moments later Molly stepped out of the fire, brushing the extra soot off her clothing.

"What's this all about Bill?" Molly asked. "And why is Fleur here?"

"She was here for class mum," Ron piped up.

"Well Ron, she was here for that but there's something that we have to tell you all," Bill said excitedly.

"Well, what is it then?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"I'm pregnant!" Fleur cried happily.

"Ohh!" cried Molly, pulling her daughter-in-law into a hug, but not as strong as usual, for fear of crushing her first grandchild. Since the war, and what Molly had found out from when the golden trio had stayed at their house, Molly and Fleur had a much better relationship. A lot more respect on both ends.

Ron and Harry shook Bill's hand, who was beaming a mile a minute. Ginny bombarded him with a hug, and then Molly did the same, knocking the wind out of her eldest son. Ron and Harry hugged Fleur gently and kissed her on the cheek at the same time, causing her to giggle with delight. Hermione was the only girl to give Bill a mild mannered hug, which he was almost appreciative of; he chuckled at her calmness.

"Oh, dearie, when are you due?" Molly asked excitedly.

"Around Ginny's birthday," Fleur said, beaming proudly, putting her arms around her still flat stomach.

"That's brilliant Fleur," Ginny exclaimed, hopping up and down, hugging her sister-in-law. "I'm going to be an aunt!"

"I'm going to be an uncle!" Ron shouted, picking Hermione up and swinging her around. Hermione giggled and held on tightly. Ginny even hugged Harry; he hugged her back, but no one noticed that she lingered a bit longer than what was supposed to be between friends. They still weren't a couple, not as of yet anyway, so they were trying to keep things under wraps until they would announce it formally. The entire group stayed, and George and Arthur even flooed in to have dinner in the defense classroom that night, sharing embarrassing stories about Bill when he was younger.

"I remember when he was just starting to walk," Molly reminisced. "He would be into everything. Once he wandered under Auntie Muriel's dress at a family reunion and got lost. All you could hear was him squealing 'Dark!' and none of us could find him. Finally he bit her leg, needless to say we found him rather quickly."

"Ahh, when he was fifteen, I had to give him the 'talk'," Arthur chuckled. "It got easier over the years, and every boy got it at fifteen, but he was the first. So naturally I was a nervous wreck. He turned ten shades of red once I was done my first sentence. He stopped me about halfway through because he was just bursting to tell me. He had already fooled around with a girl in his year, and hearing his father talk about stuff he already knew about was embarrassing."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Professor McGonagall had announced that a Yule Ball would take place the day before the students would leave for the holidays and many people went out shopping for their formal gowns and dress robes. Hermione bought a brown, long-sleeved gown. It had a scoop neck and had silver beading all throughout it. Ginny had said she was going to go to the dance no matter if anyone asked her or not, so she just bought a gown anyway. Hers was a brilliant emerald green, and it stood out amongst all the other dressed. The neckline was quite plunging, but she didn't mind in the slightest, especially after what she wore to the Halloween dance.

"Er... Ginny?" Harry stammered after lunch one day. "Can I have a word?"

"Sure," she replied brightly. "What about?"

"Can we go to the Room of Requirement?" he said nervously.

"Yeah," she said, looking at him with confusion.

The pair walked in silence up to the seventh floor to the all too familiar secret room. Ginny leaned against the wall as Harry paced back and forth in front of the nonexistent doorway. Suddenly the door appeared and Harry all but ran in with her. There was a large, oversized armchair in front of the fireplace in the small room. Harry took a deep breath as Ginny spoke.

"What did you want to talk about? And why here?" she asked.

"Er... Well, I needed to ask you a question. And I'm kinda nervous," Harry said.

"Why would you be nervous, it's just me," Ginny reasoned, sitting down on the arm chair. She beckoned for him to sit next to her. "Come on we're friends, we can talk."

"That's the problem, I don't want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship," Harry said.

"You won't," Ginny urged.

"Alright then," Harry said, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you before anyone else go the chance to."

'Oh Merlin, here it comes,' Ginny thought. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, would you accompany me to the Yule Ball?" Harry asked formally, getting down on one knee.

"Of course, Harry," Ginny exclaimed, beaming brightly.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Harry let out a breath he was holding. "Now I can give you this."

"What is it?" Ginny asked as Harry pulled a long rectangular box out of his pocket.

"It was going to be your Christmas present but I don't think I can wait any longer," Harry said, now handing her the box. Ginny pulled the lid off of the box and was sorting through the tissue paper, trying to find the present.

"Where is it?" she asked, looking up at him with a confused look.

"Take out all the paper," Harry prompted with a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Ginny complied, slowly revealing the bottom of the box. Once all the paper was gone, she gasped. She saw familiar writing on the bottom of the box: Ginevra Molly Weasley, would you be my girlfriend?

She looked up at him, her eyes burning with the same passion he had seen that day they won the Quidditch cup two years ago. She rolled herself over in the chair they were sharing to straddle his lap, entangling her fingers in his unruly hair. She moved her lips very softly against his, nibbling on the bottom lip.

"I guess that's a yes?" he asked, breathing heavy.

"Yes, I'll be your girlfriend," Ginny whispered, looking him in the eye. His eyes had a new fire, a new spark that she hadn't seen in such a long time.

"So what color's your dress?" Harry asked, leaning back to her head could rest on his chest.

"It's green," she replied.

"Anything else I should know?" he asked playfully.

"Nope, I'll just let you wait in wonder," she said, playfully nipping his bottom lip again.

"Fine," he huffed, then returned slyly. "Then you are not allowed to criticize me about how I react when I see you."

"Okay, if I must," she joked before kissing him again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The day of the dance had finally arrived and there was actually anticipation that filled the halls of Hogwarts; most of the students were looking forward to letting loose with this dance, and those who weren't, didn't speak up about it. All the males were seated in their respective common rooms the day of, waiting for their dates to come down the stairs.

"Ron, are you wearing a Muggle tux?" Harry asked, adjusting his bottle green dress robes.

"I thought I'd surprise 'Mione, wear a bit of Muggle stuff for her," Ron replied nonchalantly.

"Who told you about this though?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"I got Dean to help me," Ron said. "Seeing how his mum was a Muggle."

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," Harry said.

"Look, here they come," Ron pointed out. The girls' staircase was now illuminated slightly. The girls came down singly and they were stunning, all the way from first year to the seventh years. Hermione, as Head Girl, came down first wearing her brown silk dress; it shimmered in the candle light. His heart rate increased, and his cheeks turned a faint 'Weasley Red' as everyone had deemed it.

"Merlin, Hermione!" he exclaimed.

"What, that bad?" she looked a bit nervous, worrying her lip between her teeth.

"No, I just worried about how many detentions' I'll get tonight."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to have to beat up all the other guys who are going to want to come near you," he chuckled.

"Ronald," she chided before gliding over to him. They had something planned that would blow everyone away. He pulled her close to him for a proper greeting snog.

"So, Ron," Harry prompted. "Are we finally going to find out why you two have been sneaking off, or is that for other reasons?"

"You'll find out alright, Potter," Hermione said cryptically.

"You're not pregnant are you?" Harry asked worriedly.

"No, of course not," she said. Several more girls had walked down in the time they had this conversation. There was a round of applause for each girl when she got to the bottom of the stairs. They came down and walked through the common room to their dates, respectively.

Dennis Creevey was actually quiet for once as he saw his date, Samantha Green, descend the staircase. Her blond hair and pale skin was contrasted by a deep plum colored dress that swept the floor when she walked. Dennis had asked advice from Neville, Ron, and Harry, on how to impress her.

_"Be yourself," Neville warned with Ron and Harry agreeing quickly. "Because if this goes somewhere, you don't want to act differently around her, don't act like something you're not."_

"Hi," Dennis said, you could really tell that he was curbing his enthusiasm.

"Hi, you clean up pretty good," she commented, giggling slightly as the tips of his ears turned pink. Colin would be proud of his little brother.

"Well, you aren't so bad your self," he joked, bringing her hand to his lips as he kissed the back of it. She blushed through her makeup. She linked her arm through his and he turned toward the seventh years. He gave them a wink and the couple walked out of the common room.

After about twenty more minutes of girls coming down, Harry was getting a bit anxious. "Where is she?"

"She was going to wait; she convinced the other girls in the tower to let her go last," Hermione said.

Harry was really nervous, since he and Ginny hid the fact that they were now dating once again. All the girls had finally come down the winding staircase and Ginny was all that was left. She poked her head out of the opening, looking a bit nervous. Harry gave her a reassuring nod, to assure her that it was okay for her to come down now. She stepped out of the doorway and descended the stairs, starring Harry dead in the eye the entire way down. She just watched his reaction; his eyes got real but, and they glowed soft emerald green. Her dress practically clung to her like it was her own skin.

Slowly, almost as if mesmerized, Harry walked to the base of the stairs and waited for Ginny to meet him. She descended the last few stairs but when she reached the second to last one, Harry picked her up in a hug and swung her around. She giggled and he did as well.

"I take it you like the dress," she murmured in his ear.

"I would have liked to have taken you on the stairs but I think Ron would have had a problem with that," Harry murmured back.

Ginny chuckled lightly and smile brightly when he kissed the back of her hand. Harry tucked her hand into his arm and he and Ginny, Ron and Hermione left the common room.

On the way down to the Great Hall they met up with several of their friends: Draco and Susan; Ernie Macmillan and Julia Clearwater, Dean and Melissa Edgecomb, Neville and Luna. They could hear the music from the entrance hall, and apparently they Weird Sisters had thought up some new songs; they decided to try them out of the students.

When they all entered the Great Hall, it looked very similar to an ice palace (very similar to the way it was during the Yule Ball when the Triwizard Tournament had taken place four years ago).

"Oh, it looks beautiful," Hermione breathed. Ron stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You look beautiful," Ron whispered in her ear. She faintly blushed. She wasn't used to people complimenting her, even though the Weasleys and Harry had been at it for years.

"Thank you," she whispered back. They headed in and grabbed a table near the staff table. When they ordered their food, Ron didn't eat as much as normal, which greatly surprised nearly everyone.

"Ron," Harry said, nudging his best friends' arm. "What's wrong?"

"What?" Ron asked nervously.

"Well, you're not acting like your normal self mate," Harry pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't really eaten much," Harry said.

"Oh, I guess I'm just not hungry," Ron said, trying to avoid the real reason.

"Okay," Harry resigned, knowing better than to push the issue, especially when he felt a sneaking suspicion that Hermione played a part in it.

The music started up again, in a rather up beat song, and Harry offered his hand to Ginny, who grabbed in immediately. They headed out into the middle of the growing sea of teenagers that filled the dance floor. For some strange reason, Harry and Ginny didn't dance together like they did at the last dance, they kept close, but were a comfortable distance apart. Hermione sauntered over to Ron and perched herself on his lap.

"You nervous?" she asked.

"Bloody hell, how can't I be nervous?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his. "Don't be, you'll be wonderful, we went over this," she murmured in his ear. He locked his eyes on hers and nodded slightly. She leaned in and rubbed her nose against is playfully before leaning in even close for a kiss.

"Come on," she said, helping him out of his chair. "I'll go tell Professor McGonagall, just meet me in the middle. Don't forget the disguise."

"I won't," he said. Ron weaved his way into the middle of the dance floor and awaited Hermione's return. She whispered hurriedly in the headmistress' ear; the old witch smiled and nodded. She walked over to the podium and began to speak.

"Welcome to this year's Yule Ball! I hope you are all having a wonderful time. I would please ask you to clear the dance floor because we have a special performance to show you," the elder witch said brightly. Ron turned his hair brown quickly and donned a mask. Hermione turned her hair blond and put her mask on as well. The rest of the dance floor was cleared, leaving Ron standing there all alone. The crowd began to murmur things about him being left all alone to look like a fool in front of the entire school. They also whispered about who it could possibly be, but no one could figure it out.

Hermione made her way gracefully onto the dance floor to meet Ron in the middle. The music was up beat and the dance was fast-paced, very high on the flashy/sexy scale. It was quite similar to the dance performed by Patrick Swayze and Cynthia Rhodes in Dirty Dancing when they are dancing at the resort; yet another of Hermione's favorite movies. They moved together like Hermione was an extension of his already long and lanky arms.

They twisted and turned in each other's arms, rubbing and sliding up against each other, causing Professor McGonagall and several other teachers to blush; considering that they knew who the couple really was. Ron lifted Hermione in the air and Professor McGonagall removed all their disguises. There were very many gasps from the crowd. Harry pulled Ginny, who was standing in front of him, closer to his chest.

"I never knew your brother could move like that," he whispered as Ron flipped Hermione over his arm with well practiced ease and continued dancing as if it were nothing at all.

"Me neither," she replied, watching them in rapt awe as the dance was drawing to a close. One final lift and a death drop left Hermione mere inches from the ground with only Ron's arm for support. The crowd erupted with applause and cheers. Ron carefully helped Hermione to her feet and they bowed to the crowd.

"That was amazing 'Mione," Ron whispered in her ear as he hugged her in the middle of the dance floor. "I love you."

The students stormed the dance floor and engulfed Ron and Hermione. Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Luna hung back until the rest of the people subsided. With their face royally flushed, they finally made their way back to their four friends. "I can't believe that you can move like that," Ginny said and attacked her brother with a hug. Soon they were all hugging, and murmuring their congratulations.

"It looked like sex on the dance floor," Harry commented.

"Well, that was what it was supposed to look like," Hermione said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Ladies choice," the front man for the Weird Sisters announced as they cranked out a slow song.

"Harry would you care to dance?" Hermione asked.

"Sure," he said, a very surprised look on his face.

"Neville, what about you?" Ginny asked.

"Erm… sure," he looked at Harry, who shrugged.

"Well, Ronald, I think I need to see more of your dancing skills," Luna said dreamily.

They all had each others girlfriends and were dancing quite gracefully. They weren't as close as they would be with their boyfriends, but they still danced closer than two friends would. The band announced that for the next song, everyone must change partners: So Harry took Luna, Neville got Hermione, and that left Ron with Ginny.

Come on, let's go sit," Ron said, feeling a bit perturbed that he was dancing with his sister.

"Don't be embarrassed Ron," she said chuckling lightly. "It's only a dance after all."

"Yeah, I just feel weird," he admitted.

"What will we do when out siblings get married, we'll have to dance then?"

"I guess you're right."

In the end they all danced the night away, ending up back with their boyfriends and girlfriends. All they really had to look forward to was the Christmas celebrations at the Burrow. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had already Christmas shopped in Hogsmeade so they got everyone something. It seemed that not that they had money to spend, their gifts could be a whole lot more meaningful.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 Christmas at the Burrow**

The morning after the dance Hermione got the rest of the crew who were going to the Burrow up so they could get some last minute packing done. Soon they were all boarded the Hogwarts Express at Hogsmeade Station; ready to spend yet another holiday break at the Burrow. They tried to play a game of exploding snap, but little did they know that some people were just in it to shock people. Ginny challenged Hermione to a game, thinking that it would be an easy win. Hermione beat Ginny.

"Beginners luck," Ginny grumbled, wiping the ash off of her face.

"Alright, Hermione, I'll play you next," Harry said cheerfully.

"Fine, then I get winner," Ron grinned.

Hermione was set in her groove, deep in concentration. She played the game based on logic, statistics and several times she would go to add another card, stop, and reconsider her decision. Several minutes of deep concentration later the cards exploded in Harry's face, covering his glasses in soot. Hermione giggled a bit at this, waving her wand to clear the smoke and debris from his face.

"Good game, Harry," she said, smiling widely.

"Don't rub it in 'Mione," Harry grumbled, fixing himself up and replacing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "You're up Ron."

"Alright, 'Mione, prepare to lose," Ron said, rubbing his hands together.

This game lasted quite a while, nearly an hour. They had used up all the cards and were repeating the tower. Ron furrowed his brow in concentration; Hermione had her tongue between her lips, looking the same way she did when she was either working on a tough Arithmancy problem, or translating a complicated rune. Hermione placed her card and knew she had won because all of the other spots that were open were bad. Ron smirked, like he had seen a spot that she hadn't spotted and he could win, and he placed the card. A moment or two passed of silence, and then the pile exploded in his face. Hermione was now jumping up and down with glee. Hermione got a hug from Ginny and even Harry.

"Normally only the twins can beat Ron," Ginny said. "Finally someone else has beaten him."

Ron grumbled something about changing out of his robes into his Muggle clothing. He left and Hermione knew he was just being a sore loser; so she headed out to follow him. Once he shut the bathroom door, she opened it and followed him inside.

"Mione, what are you doing in here?" he asked incredulously.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay," she said. "You left there kind of quickly."

"Sure," he snorted.

"As penance for beating you," she said playfully. "I'll just help you."

Her fingers unclasped his robe and let it fall. He looked down at her, awestruck as she loosened and slipped his tie over his head. "W-what are you on about?" he stammered.

"You can't tell me you aren't enjoying this," she teased, as she nimbly undid the buttons on his shirt, revealing his pale freckled torso. He blushed as Hermione nudged the shirt off his shoulders with her nose, trailing kisses across the same area.

"'Mione," he warned in a growling tone. His eyes turned darker and pierced hers. He donned his blue Muggle polo, which Hermione bought late this summer as a late birthday gift. Her hands undid the buttons and fly on his dress pants before he got the shirt over his head. "Have you ever done this before?"

"Why?"

"Cause you can do this easily."

Hermione blushed slightly as she pushed his trousers the rest of the way down. He slipped his shoes off and kicked his pants off. When he put on his jeans Hermione had waved her wand over herself and changed her clothes. She was wearing matching polo and jeans, except the polo was brown. Standing up on her tiptoes, she kissed his lips briefly.

"Let's head back," she said, giggling lightly.

"Ugg," he rolled his eyes. "You are too much."

Ron grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it as they left the bathroom. The remainder of the train wasn't really eventful; they pretty much lounged about, talking about what each family did during the holidays. Arthur and Molly picked up the four teens and escorted them back to the Burrow. The Burrow looked so awesome; there was at least a foot and a half of snow on the ground.

"Brilliant," Harry and Ron muttered.

Mrs. Weasley had them go unpack their things; Harry was still bunking with Ron, and Hermione with Ginny. Once they were all finished unpacking, Hermione and Harry switched bedrooms for the rest of the afternoon. Harry knocked lightly on Ginny's bedroom door.

"Come in Harry," she yelled over her shoulder. Harry stepped in the room, seeing Ginny changing out of her dress shirt.

"Sheesh Ginny," Harry exclaimed, covering his eyes with one hand and closing her door quickly with the other.

"Nothing you haven't seen before," Ginny said nonchalantly.

"I know, but I though you said you wanted to take things slowly, after everything…" Harry trailed off, remembering the night they slept together.

"You're remembering that night, aren't you?" she accused, holding her hands on her hips, even though he couldn't see her.

"Er. That would be a yes," he muttered sheepishly.

"I don't really care about this though; it really isn't going that far." Ginny rummaged though her closet, looking for her favorite Holy Head Harpies long-sleeved t-shirt to wear. "Aha!" she exclaimed when she found it. After she slipped the shirt over her head and she deemed herself presentable she called out to him. "Okay Mister Modest, you can un-shield your eyes now."

"I am an eighteen year old guy, you can't be doing those things around me," Harry warned as he uncovered his eyes.

"Like what?" she asked innocently, but you could tell there was an element of seductiveness to her voice. She began walking over to him, her hips swaying seductively from side to side, trying to entice him.

"Um…" he said nervously. "That would be quite a good example."

"Oh, really," she mused, wrapping her arms around his neck, pushing her pelvis into his. "You mean, you can't handle a bit of harmless fun?"

"Apparently not," he whispered into her ear, feeling him pressing lightly into her lower abdomen. "Come on, let's go down, and help your mum with dinner."

"Fine," Ginny said in mock disappointment. She brushed her hand lightly across the front of his jeans as she left the room.

"Wench," Harry grunted. He needed a minute or two to compose himself enough to go downstairs and face his girlfriend's mother. A few minutes later Harry walked down the stairs and saw two of his three favorite women. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Could you please help Ginny set the table for tonight?" Molly asked.

"Yes Professor," he said jokingly.

"Cheeky," Molly chuckled lightly, swatting him with the towel. He dodged the attack just before it made contact. All those years of dodging bludgers in his search for the snitch really helped in these kinds of situations. He and Ginny began to set the table. When they would pass one another, Harry would inconspicuously run his hand across her bottom. She in turn would run her fingers nonchalantly across his lower abdomen. Molly had not failed to notice these small interactions, but watched amusedly at their mild mannered flirting.

'_I'll say something at dinner, then_,' she thought briefly before returning to her cooking.

By the timesix o'clockhad rolled around, the whole house smelled like roast turkey, and all the teen were shooed out of the kitchen. They ended up having a snowball fight; it was girls versus boys. The boys won, just barely; since Ginny was a chaser, her aim was true. Hermione also made nearly perfect snowballs for her too. Ron and Harry were used to dodging and avoiding flying objects so this helped them in the long run.

"Dinner's ready," Molly's magically modified voice filled all aspects of the house and grounds of the Burrow. Once all the teens got all their now clothes off and got dried off, Arthur came home from work and was already seated at the head of the table.

"Hey, Dad," Ron greeted him as they all sat down; Ron next to Hermione and Harry next to Ginny. Molly kept shooting them covert glances; at one point, Harry had his hand on Ginny's knee.

"So, Harry, what's going on with you and my daughter?" Molly asked.

"W—What?" Harry spluttered, spitting out a bit of her pumpkin juice.

"You and Ginny," Molly prompted. "You've practically had your hand on her knee all night."

"Molly!" Arthur admonished, chuckling lightly. "Way to accuse the boy."

"I would just like to know what is going on under my own roof," she said lightly.

"Fine Mum," Ginny sighed. "Harry asked me to be his girlfriend just before the Yule Ball. We were going to tell you on Christmas Day, kinda like a present, but now I guess not…"

"Oh, Ginny, I'm so happy for you two," Molly cried, hugging Ginny. Arthur shook Harry's hand, as did Ron.

"So Gin?" Molly asked eagerly. "Did he ask you, or did you two just fall together?"

"Well he gave me a box, like something you would put a necklace in. I looked but there was nothing in it. He told me to take all the paper out and, look in the bottom. He wrote his message on the bottom, so he asked me that way."

"Oh man Potter, I didn't know you were such a hopeless romantic," Ron teased.

"Yeah, Ron, and you're not?" Harry smiled, knowing what Ron got Hermione for Christmas.

"You got me," Ron said, raising his hands in defeat. Dinner ran smoothly. Molly kept asking about their relationship. Arthur sat back in his chair, surveying the scene before him, thinking about what to talk about with Ron and Harry.

"Harry, Ron, I need to speak with you out in the living room if you please," Arthur said, getting up from the table and walking out into the previously stated room.

"Sure," Harry said, knowing full well what he wanted to talk about. All three of the men traipsed out to the living room.

"Why don't you three go up to Ron's room, more privacy," Molly suggested. She really wanted the guys out of the kitchen so they could talk without the men hearing. She had already given the girls their sex talk, now she just wanted to talk to them in a little bit more depth, and make sure that they were safe in what ever they were doing. The men walked up the spiral staircase and they shut the door behind them as they walked into the attic bedroom which Harry and Ron shared. Arthur sat on Harry's bed while the two teens sat on Ron's bed.

"Look, contrary to what you think, I know you're teenage boys and I know what you're going through. Your hormones are probably running wild, you've got two very good looking girls on your hands," he started. "I'm not going to tell you not to have sex before you're married because the times were different than they were back when your mother and I were young. It would be pointless now anyway…"

"What are you saying?" Ron asked carefully, trying to not reveal anything.

"I can tell," Arthur said. "Don't worry I'm not surprised in the least. I just want you to be safe when you do." Arthur got up and left the room abruptly and left the boys awestruck.

"Have you done anything with Hermione?" Harry asked

"No, not yet," Ron said. "What about you?"

"Er… Well about that…" Harry said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"What are you on about?" Ron asked accusingly.

"You're probably ready to kill me," Harry said, taking a deep breath. "I've already slept with your sister."

"What? When did this happen?" Ron asked.

"You're not mad?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Well, I kinda am, but I just know now that there's no stopping it from happening," Ron said.

"Thanks I guess, for not killing me, but I have to say that you've taken to hanging out with Hermione too much, you're going soft," Harry teased. He sobered up when Ron glared at him. "Okay it was after the Halloween dance, she all but dragged me up to my room."

"Sounds like something she would do," Ron commented offhandedly. "Why didn't you two start dating after that?"

"I really don't know," Harry said, scratching his head. "We talked about it, and we decided to see where it would go from there. She thought the only reason I would have wanted to go out with her was because I slept with her, and was going to use her."

"That's kinda good, I guess," Ron said.

"I can't believe your Dad's okay with it," Harry said, sounding relieved.

"I can't believe that Dad thinks Hermione and I have done…that," Ron blushed.

"Ron, we're legal adults, I think we can stand to say the word 'sex' by now," Harry said mockingly.

"Shut up Harry," Ron grumbled.

**_Christmas Morning…_**

Molly woke them all up on Christmas morning, citing that all her children would be here, so there were a lot of gifts to be opened if they were to be done before supper. They all came down in their pajamas; Hermione was wearing a black wife beater and a pair of Ron's old pajama pants. They were bright orange with giant C's on them, representing the Chudley Cannons. All the Weasley children were gathered downstairs, strewn all over the couches and chairs. The presents were handed out from youngest to oldest, so Ginny was still first, but next year the new baby would be first.

"Alright, Gin's first," Ron announced, picking his sister up and setting her on the floor in front of everyone. Slowly but surely, everyone got their presents from the correct people. Ginny got clothes from her older brothers and perfume from Hermione and Ron. Harry gave her a locket with a picture he had gotten of them kissing under their tree before Dumbledore died. To the shock of her older brothers, she kissed him instantly.

"Um… Gin?" Charlie spoke up first. "Is there something you would care to tell us?"

"Don't worry Charlie, they got together just before coming here," Bill said.

"How do you know Bill?" Harry asked nervously, as if waiting for the storm after the calm.

"I only see you lot everyday in my classes or otherwise," Bill said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "It was inevitable that they would get back together. Especially after that show at Halloween."

"Oh, that," Harry blushed nervously.

"You gave Fleur ideas, Harry," Bill winked slyly, which prompted Fleur to smack him on the arm. Harry, Ginny, Bill, and Fleur chuckled over their little inside joke.

"Oui, Ginny, you looked very gorgeous," Fleur squealed. More giggles erupted from Ginny and her French sister-in-law, and now ever Hermione.

"Alright, enough giggling girls," Molly chided. "It's Harry's turn to open presents."

Slowly but surely all the Weasleys and significant others opened their presents. By the end, there was wrapping paper strewn everywhere, and Molly had wandered into the kitchen to make dinner. It was a meal fit for kings (_tee hee Weasley is my King_).

The next day came too soon, but there was some shred of good news. Neville and Luna were having a pre-new years eve party. The invite was also asking if they just wanted to spend the night at Neville's house.

"Mum!" Ginny yelled.

"In the kitchen dear," Molly replied.

"Neville's asked us over to his house for a party and to spend the night," Ginny said. "Can we go?"

"Sure, I guess," Molly said. Then added, "No drinking though."

"Fine, I'm going to go tell the rest of them now," Ginny said as she exited the kitchen; of course they were going to drink, but they would just stay at Neville's. She bounded up the rickety, winding stair case and all the way up to Ron's room.

"What's the news Ginny?" Ron asked.

"We can go, and spend the night," she replied.

"Excellent," both boys chorused together.

All four teens apparated to Neville's house, which was quite big, and they walked up to knock on the door. Neville greeted them and brought them inside.

"Look, Gran said we could all stay in the largest guest bed room, they have four beds set up like bunk beds," Neville said. "Oh, for Luna and I, Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Draco and Susan."

"Wait, Draco and Susan are coming?" Hermione asked. She and Susan had gotten along better now because Hermione wanted to get a job where her Auntie used to work.

"Yeah, I mean, he has changed quite a bit since school started, and I figure he'd like to have more friends," Neville shrugged.

"Sounds about right mate," Harry said, clapping him on the back. "Where's Luna?"

"She's in the indoor pool in the basement," Neville said nonchalantly. "With Susan."

"You've got an indoor pool?" Ginny asked in shock.

"Yeah, it's how I got rid of most of the baby fat," Neville blushed.

"I always wondered about that," Hermione said.

"So when's Draco coming?" Ginny asked.

"He should be here soon," Neville said. The bell rang. "Speak of the dragon."

Neville went to answer the door and sure enough it was Draco. He led them all down two flights of stairs so they could get to the basement where the pool was. It ran the entire expanse of the house, with columns supporting the ceiling. There was a little three foot by two-foot island surrounding each column. Luna and Susan were in the diving well and didn't notice that the boys had come in. they stood there momentarily, watching both girls simultaneously do back dives.

"I always knew I would get a good looking one," Draco commented playfully. Ginny answered by elbowing him in the side. "Okay well, one of the four good looking ones."

"Better," Ginny muttered and she and Hermione giggled. The girls looked up and walked over to the new comers.

"Merry Christmas, Draco," Susan greeted warmly.

"Merry Christmas," she returned and kissed him briefly.

"Get your suits on and come on in," Luna said happily.

The teens who weren't dressed in proper swimming attire went into the convenient changing rooms off in the corner to transfigure their underclothing into suitable bathing suits. Draco emerged and was met with a great many stares. His physique was something to ogle at. Now there were four guys in the same room who could quite possibly have a second career as muggle models. Draco tried to do a graceful swan dive into the pool but ended up doing a belly flop, earning several groans from the rest of the party. When he resurfaced, he grabbed his girlfriends' waist. Ron grabbed Ginny and threw her in the pool, with much protesting on her part. Harry took the opportunity to throw Hermione in the water as well. Ron and Harry looked at each other and nodded; they grabbed up Neville and threw him in the pool as well. Lastly they jumped in and were immediately dunked under the water by Neville. Neville waved his hand and music started playing in the background. "When my Gran hears the music, she'll only hear the music she would want me to listen too, but we can hear what ever we want," Neville explained when he was met with dumbfounded expression.

"When did you learn to do wandless magic?" Hermione asked.

"I guess last year," Neville said as he floated over to her. "I had a lot of down time while I was hiding in the Room of Requirement. Lots of good books to read"

"Wicked," Ron said. "I can only really do one wandless nonverbal spell."

"Same here," Harry said.

"And what would that be?" Susan asked before diving under the water. She resurfaced near them in just enough time to hear them say together, "The contraception charm."

"What?"

"Well Dad made me learn a while back," Ron explained. "It really freaked me out when we all, and yes all my brothers, had to practice on Mum and Ginny."

"And that's not at all creepy or anything," Draco said sarcastically.

"It still feels weird," Ginny said, giggling lightly.

"What do you mean 'still'? They haven't done that in years," Hermione inquired suspiciously, completely forgetting that Harry said he had slept with Ginny.

"Well, Harry said he could do it too," Ginny reasoned, trying to get Hermione to understand.

"What!"

"Harry didn't you tell anyone?" Ginny asked.

"I told Ron yesterday while your dad had that talk with us," Harry said, holding his hands up in his defense. Ron growled, the news finally sinking in.

"Oh give it up Ron," Ginny fumed. "I'm a legal adult, I can do what I want."

"I still just don't want to hear about it," Ron protested.

"When?" Draco asked.

"Halloween," Harry muttered.

"But, you've only been going out since like the last two weeks," Ron reasoned.

"Er… About that…" Harry said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Don't be ashamed about it," Ginny said.

"I just don't want your brother to kick my arse for sleeping with you," Harry protested.

"Alright, then," Ginny said as they started splashing around. They swam around for hours, singing to the music, and playing games. They all got Draco and Susan in on the chicken fights and the battle ensued. Susan and Draco were the first ones to be out. Neville and Luna were still the reigning champions.

"Come on kids,"Augustacame down the stairs. "It's time for dinner."

They all got out of the pool and dried off. Once their clothes were changed, they headed up to the large kitchen. They house-elves had created a very delectable feast, one to rival the ones at Hogwarts.

"Thanks much for the food Gran," Neville said.

"You're welcome," the elder witch said kindly. "You'll all be in the guest room tonight."

"Thanks for having us all around," Harry said, all the others were quick to agree with him. Everyone traipsed upstairs to the guestroom and settled into their little circle.

"Game?" Neville suggested. Everyone murmured their consent.

"Spin the bottle?" Susan asked, a sly grin on her face. The girls all looked at each other and nodded. Luna waved her wand and a bottle magically appeared.

"What are the rules?" Draco asked, afraid of what his girlfriend had in mind; since guys in the Pureblooded wizarding world didn't normally play this game, or even really hear about it.

"Well, just a peck, but it has to be on the lips," Ginny started. "You have a choice: if a male lands on another male, they can either spin the bottle again or they can kiss the girl on their immediate right, if male again, they can go to the next female."

"Fine with me," the guys chorused. They didn't realize how willing everyone else was to play.

"Youngest first," Draco said, grinning at Ginny.

"Fine," she huffed. She crawled on her hands and knees to the middle of the circle and spun the bottle. It spun around until it landed on Draco Malfoy. She smiled apologetically at Harry and kissed Draco full on the mouth. Everyone giggled. Draco spun the bottle and it landed on Neville.

"Whoa, even I have my limits," he said, looking at Neville. Neville shrugged.

"Well, you can kiss the girl to your right," Luna said. Draco looked to his right; it was Hermione. Before she even realized what was going on, Draco had swooped down and kissed her.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Ginny mused. Draco blushed.

"Well, my turn I guess," Hermione giggled. She spun the bottle and it landed on Neville. Neville blushed as his Head cohort leaned across the center of the circle and kissed him. Ron tapped her arse playfully.

"Keep your hands to your self mister," she warned equally as playfully. Luna charmed the bottle secretly to no longer stop on the person of the same sex as the person spinning, without anyone knowing of course. The game went of for about fifteen minutes, only landing on the opposite sex for everyone. They all giggled like they were little kids again, not the ones who ended the last war.

"I suggest we step things up a bit," Susan suggested.

"And here I was under the impression that you were the good one?" Draco mused. She smacked his arm lightly.

"Anyway… before I was so rudely interrupted," she said mockingly. The group sniggered. "We need to make the game more interesting."

"What do you suggest?" Hermione asked, putting on her most innocent face.

"You must make out with the person the bottle lands on for no less than five seconds," Susan began. "But if it lands on a guy when a guy spins, you must kiss the girls to your right, then going in a counter clockwise direction each time it happens; pretty much same as last time."

"I think we should have a rule about siblings as well," Ron piped up.

"Alright, siblings have the same rule," Susan said.

"Also," Harry stated. "What goes on in this room, stays in this room; agreed?"

"Agreed," everyone said.

Ron spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione. "Fancy that," he said, smirking at Hermione. He leaned to his left and kissed her for five seconds, which was counted out by the rest of the group. Hermione spun the bottle and it landed on Harry. She leaned across Ron and Ginny to get to Harry. Harry spun the bottle and it landed on Ginny. Ginny spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione, since they had taken the charm off.

"Does that mean you have to kiss Draco?" Neville asked.

"Nope, we only said that would happen if a guy spun and it landed on another guy," Ginny said calmly.

"Wait! What?" Ron exclaimed.

"See, we're not afraid to kiss the same sex, like you all are," Susan said, chuckling at the sight of Draco's jaw hanging open. "You know, Draco, that's an awfully good way for someone to catch flies."

Draco shut his mouth immediately. Ginny stood up, as well as Hermione; they walked to the center of the circle, and kissed, tongues and all. Luna and Susan giggled while the four males just stared, wide-eyed, in disbelief. The girls broke apart, giggling, and sat back down. Hermione spun the bottle and it landed on Draco. Before he could comprehend anything, Hermione kissed him, her tongue slipping between his lips to have a small romp with his.

"Well," Harry said sagaciously, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt like his someday father-in-law did quite frequently. "This certainly makes for an interesting game."

By the end of the game it was nearlyten o'clock; they had already kissed each other several times over, even the girls. Harry suggested that they play a new game, one he had overheardDudleyplay with his gang, summer before last: Never ever have I ever.

"So, someone goes and says a question, 'Never ever have I ever had a pet,' and those who have had pets put one of your ten fingers down. But if it's over too quickly, to win you have to put all of your fingers back up," Harry explained. "No cheating or lying either."

"Okay you can start Harry," Luna said.

"I already did, now fingers down people," Harry said. Everyone but Draco and Susan put their fingers down. "A random question is really how most people play this game."

"Aright then," Ginny said. "Never ever have I ever sung a song high-pitched and girly in the shower?"

All of them with the exception of Neville put their fingers down. "Damn Draco!"

"What? Neville is the oddball," Draco said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Neville said. "Never ever have I ever worn the opposite sex's clothing?"

All of the girls put their fingers down.

"Never ever have I ever kissed someone from the same sex?" Ron smirked.

"You're purposely trying to get us out," Hermione said. "Well, never ever have I ever played Quidditch?"

"Damn 'Mione, I'm already halfway done," Ginny cried.

"Sorry Gin," Hermione said sheepishly.

"Don't worry I can always get you back," Ginny said slyly. "Never ever have I ever read Hogwarts: A History?"

"Damn, Neville's winning," Ron pointed out.

"Never have I ever had sex?" Draco said, proudly putting his finger down. Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Luna put their fingers down as well.

"Never ever have I ever fancied a teacher?" Neville prompted. All four girls put their fingers down.

"Do tell ladies," Ron said, grinning widely.

"Lockhart," Hermione said obviously.

"Lupin," the rest replied dreamily.

"Wow!" Draco said. "I didn't see that coming."

"Those scars," Luna said, absentmindedly looking at the scar that went down Neville's cheek.

They played the game well into the night; Ginny was the first one out, followed by Hermione and Draco. Neville tied with Ron on who did the least. Sleep was creeping up on them, as they got ready for bed, letting each couple get into bed for themselves. They all thought that this party had been a complete success, helping each occupant of the room know a little more about each other.


	17. AN

**A/N: I know that posting this last chapter, people don't care for the direction the story is going. But i thought i mentioned in the beginning that this is what I think should have happened between the final chapter of Deathly Hallows and the Epilogue. I know this may now go well with the people who love cannon stories. This is how i think the characters should develop, i.e. when Ron is acting more friendly to Draco. I believe that people grow up and they learn to accept others. **

**Also, i'm aware that they probably would never play spin the bottle, but you know what, i wanted them to dammit. If you don't have something nice or constructive to say, please keep it to yourself. Just enjoy my imagination, because that's all this is. **

**And to those out there who believe that this is supposed to be strictly a Ron/Hermione story. This story encompasses four main couples throughout the story. Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Neville/Luna, and Draco/Susan. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it, your choice. **

**As a side note, i would like to immensely thank those who took the time to tell me that they liked the story. I appreciate it so much. Its what keeps me going and wanting to post the rest. I know its not the best piece of writing, since i'm not exactly aspiring to be a writer, its more of a hobby. I think its not the most horrible story in the world. Keep reading = )**

**Thanks, **

**Dana  
**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Hermione's Shocking News**

**A/N: Well, I do apologize for my author note, i was feeling a bit angry. But all better now = ) Updates will becoming every day until i get the whole story updates... maybe even more than once a day.  
**

Once all the teenage witches and wizards returned from their enlightening party at Neville's, Hermione wanted to go visit her parents, and she asked Ron to accompany her. Molly was a bit leery at first, but she decided that nothing could really be that dangerous about a visit for a few days. Hermione packed their stuff in her small beaded bag, which still had the undetectable extension charm on it, and she apparated them both to just outside her house. She had lived in a beautiful two story Victorian home, just on the outskirts ofBath. Being that the house was painted a beautiful sky blue and had a complete wrap-around porch, the house was absolutely the most brilliant house that Ron had seen, aside from mansions you see in the magazines. They had taken a week back inAustraliato pack their house back up there and got everything back into this house. They were finally settled in once more.

"Wow," Ron breathed.

"I guess," Hermione said sheepishly. She didn't like to flaunt the fact that she had money; quite a bit by Muggle standards. Her parents had been very successful dentists before the war and they were just getting their feet back under them after being on a 'sabbatical' for nearly a year. Their patients had been loyal for the most part, nearly all of them having returned.

Hermione led Ron up to the old wooden door and banged the brass knocker three times rather loudly. They heard a shuffling of footsteps and muttering. The door opened to a rather chubby-looking Emma Granger. "Oh, Hermione!" she cried in shock. "Come on in dears, get out of the cold."

Ron and Hermione were ushered into the nice and toasty warm Granger household. Richard was seen in the living room watching an old Beatles documentary on the BBC. He looked up and beamed at them.

"Hermione, Ron, what a pleasant surprise!" he exclaimed. He got up from his recliner and hugged his daughter, he also shook hands with the man he hoped would one day become his son-in-law.

"How are you, sir?" Ron asked politely.

"Oh, I'm being run ragged," Richard said tiredly.

"Well that's to be expected, what with getting back into the swing of things at the practice," Ron said solemnly.

"Er, yeah," Richard said. "Something like that."

"Dad, is something wrong?" Hermione asked with worry in her voice.

"Well, your mother and I have something important to tell you," Richard said. "And it'll be a bit of a surprise, I'm sure."

"Emma! Come out here, we need to tell her!"

"Alright! I'll be in there in a moment!" she yelled back from the kitchen. Less than a moment later she was toddling out of the kitchen.

"Mum, is something the matter?" Hermione asked warily.

"Nothing really important," Emma said. "But you're going to be a big sister."

"Wait! What?" Hermione cried.

"I'm pregnant," she said calmly.

"Oh," Hermione said promptly before fainting. Ron's keeper reflexes, being in their prime, kicked in, and he caught her just before she could hit the ground. He scooped her in his arms and carried her over to the couch.

"Mione?" he said as he caressed her face. "Wake up, love." When his voice hadn't woken her up, he pointed his wand at her chest and said, "Ennervate!" Her eyes flickered open and let out a sigh. _'I'll never get used to the feeling of waking up next to him_,' she thought_. 'But how did I get here?'_

"W—What happened?" Hermione asked.

"You fainted love," Ron said soothingly.

"So it's true?" she asked.

"Yup, you're going to be a big sister!" Ron said cheerily.

"I'm sorry I fainted, but you can't really blame me," Hermione began. "I mean, you always told be that you never really planned on having kids as young as you were but were happy with only me. Now I'm going to be a big sister. I'm just over nineteen, so it's a bit of a shock."

"Now that you're grown up and we're a bit older, we really wanted to make this family a bit bigger," Emma explained.

"So umm… How far along are you?" Hermione asked nervously.

"About four and a half months," Emma said beaming proudly. Hermione looked at her mother glowing with pride and she looked truly happy. The bloating now highly resembled a baby bump; over all her mother looked like a completely new person, but in the same body.

"So it's due on…?" Hermione asked.

"The girls are coming on March 1st!" she cried ecstatically, rubbing her stomach fondly.

"Hey that's my birthday what a coinc…" Ron trailed off as he realized what she had said. "You said girls? As in more than one"

"Yes Ron, twins," Richard said. Ron went over to Emma and gave her a hug, careful not to squish her protruding stomach under his lanky frame. When he let her go, he turned to shake Richard's hand.

"Congratulations, sir!"

"Richard, Ron, remember?" he chided gently.

"Er... Sorry," Ron said sheepishly.

"It's okay. Thanks," Richard said, grinning from ear to ear. Hermione was still standing there, not knowing what to do.

"What, are you too old now to give your mother a hug?" Emma teased. Hermione blushed, and walked to her mom to give her a hug.

"Congratulations, I love you Mommy," Hermione mumbled into her mother's hair.

"I love you too, sweetie," Emma murmured back. After a few minutes she relinquished her hold on her mother and went to hug her dad. Richard picked her up off the ground, so her feet were nearly six inches off the ground and swung her around.

"So March 1st is your birthday Ron?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Ron said shyly.

"Well you'll definitely have to be there on that day, what a birthday present," Emma said excitedly.

"Only if Professor McGonagall lets us," Hermione said, ever obeying school rules.

"Of course," Richard agreed. Hermione and Emma sat down on the couch and talked merrily about what had been going on. Ron and Richard went into the kitchen to make some lunch.

**Meanwhile…**

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"I only had morning sickness for the first four months but it's tapering off now, and now just my back is always sore."

"That's good," Hermione said distantly.

"Hermione Jane Granger, you're hiding something!" Emma accused.

"Well, I just want to know why you didn't tell me sooner?" she asked.

"When you were younger, we did try to have another baby but we had a miscarriage. I had two more before we stopped trying. We had never thought we could have children again," Emma said, her eyes tearing. "When we found out, we decided to keep it, not knowing if they would survive. But when four months came and went, I knew my girls would live. The doctors just said that I needed to be very careful, take all the necessary precautions and just a few more extra ones."

"I never would have guessed," Hermione said. "I just always thought I was a mistake…"

"No, sweetie," Emma soothed. "You were never a mistake. True you came a bit earlier than I would have liked but you were never a mistake."

"Oh mum," Hermione cried, tears running down her face. The two women hugged and just sat there, holding each other, until the men came out to get them for lunch. Ron and Hermione stayed the night. Ron was forced to sleep in the spare room. Although Hermione was not happy with this arrangement, they dealt with it for the night. Neither slept really well so they weren't the happiest campers the next morning.

"Breakfast, you two!" Emma cried at nine the next morning; Richard had already gone off to work for the day. "It's strawberry pancakes!"

This caught Hermione's attention, since it was her favorite breakfast. She leapt out of bed and hurried down to Ron's room. He was sprawled out all over the bed, sheets wrapped haphazardly around his waist. He was wearing blue checked pants and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt; all decked out in Ravenclaw colors. She crawled in bed and snuggled close to him, like she would have on any other morning back at school. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled one of his lazy, sexy smiles that made Hermione melt anytime she would witness one.

"G'Morning sunshine," he murmured.

"Mum says she had strawberry pancakes," Hermione said tantalizingly.

"You know why I love you?" Ron asked. She shook her head. "Because you feed me, love."

"You are incorrigible," She said, swatting his arm playfully. "Come on; let's get you fed, Mister Bottomless Pit."

"I resent that!" Ron said indignantly, crossing his arms across his chest like a little sullen four year old that ate a cookie before dinner and was being yelled at.

"But it's true," Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Ron shrugged and lifted them both out of the queen-sized bed. He slung her over his shoulder and carried her down the stairs, ignoring her giggling protests.

"I can see you two are happy this morning," Emma commented from her position near the stove.

"Didn't sleep much though," Hermione chocked out amid her giggles as Ron was moving his hands up and down her sides as he set her down.

"And why is that?" Emma asked suspiciously. "You know about the rules in this house."

"Yes, yes I know," Hermione said. "It was nothing like that. Well, er, all my friends sleep down in the common together, so I guess it's weird not being with any of them."

"You mean you sleep with Ron?" Emma asked.

"Sleep next to, not with, there is a difference," Hermione said, joking like she would at the Weasley's before she shoveled nearly half a pancake into her mouth. Ron blushed the Weasley red when Emma turned her gaze toward him.

"Er, sorry," Ron apologized. He had learned to apologize to women no matter if he had done something wrong or not.

"No, you did nothing wrong," Emma assured. "I remember being young and in love one, still am quite frankly."

"Well we haven't 'slept together' mum, so you don't have to worry about that," Hermione said after swallowing her mouthful of food.

"Just as long as you wait for a while," Emma replied pleasantly.

Ron avoided talking to Emma unless completely necessary; to avoid the awkward sex questions she would pose. Hermione made Ron bundle up while she showed him around her hometown, where she grew up. He loved where she lived, it was all so quaint and Muggle. He was fascinated by all the little things that Hermione had always taken for granted: mailboxes, fire hydrants, and many, many cars. They stopped in her favorite café for lunch and Ron got the see a whole new side of Hermione. He rather liked this calm and at ease side of the brunette witch.

"Come on, I'm frozen, let's go home," Hermione said, pulling herself closer to him as they walked along main street.

"Let's just go into the alleyway and apparate back to your house, into your room," Ron suggested. Not even caring, Hermione nodded in agreement, she only wanted to get out of the cold. He linked his arm with hers and guided her into the nearest alleyway and pulled his wand out. He made sure they were far enough down the alley so that people couldn't see them easily from the street. One quick turn and a loud crack that sounded like a car backfiring later, they landed in Ron's bedroom at Hermione's house.

"So cold," she said, visibly shaking.

"Then let me warm you up," he murmured, stripping them of their outer, wet clothing as quickly as he possibly could. He began rubbing his large calloused hands up and down her arms as quickly as possible, trying to create enough friction to create a warm feeling. Hermione leaned her head against his firm chest, allowing his scent to fill her up and warm her up from the inside out.

"Thanks Ron," Hermione murmured into his chest as his rubbing tapered off. He looked down at her and gave her the sexiest lopsided smile.

"Anything for you, love," he replied before kissing her. It was meant to be a chaste kiss on Ron's part, but Hermione had other plans for his lips. She entangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. Hermione nipped at his lower lip, begging for entrance. He willingly gave it and transformed the kiss into something brutal. Ron backed her up against the door and held her body flush against his, her softness contrasting greatly to his hardness.

"I have almost no control when you're around," Ron rasped huskily as he broke the kiss; his forehead resting against hers.

"I know the feeling," Hermione said breathlessly.

"Dad's home," Emma yelled from the kitchen. She had invariably broken any mood either teen was attempting to establish.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Quidditch Season**

Harry and Ginny had reacted quite well to the news of Hermione being a big sister, they obviously didn't have the same reaction as Hermione, but they were shocked nonetheless. New Years was celebrated at the Burrow with all their friends, but it wasn't a party as wild as the one at Neville's house. Molly, seeing that they were all over age, and not students at the time, let them toast fire whiskey when the clock struck midnight. It felt like the beginning of something. They weren't recovering from the war, and they were starting to work on their futures now.

Once they returned to school all the teens became closer, now knowing physical as well as mental secrets about each other. The teachers all noticed this closeness and were very proud of the students for putting all their differences aside and finally became friends. Quidditch matches were just about to start in a month, so Harry really needed his players to be conditioned. They had been running plays until before Christmas Break, so they had them down pat. Now they got winded easily so now he was going to work them all out, including himself.

He booked the pitch for two days a week and he would train them the other five days in the Room of Requirement. Harry had the room be specific for everyone who was on the team. They would have to sign a paper to get in and once you got into the room, you were there until you finished. There were different workouts for everyone to do, one for every day they were in the room. You could go at your discretion, but you did have to go everyday and do at least one workout; it was structured yet flexible at the same time.

1. Run for twenty minutes; fifty sit-ups; 50 pushups; fifteen minute run; lift with variable resistance machines for legs for a half hour.

2. 10 laps free style swimming; 10 laps back stroke; 10 laps breast stroke; and tread water for five minutes inbetween each different stroke.

3. Ride a stationary bike for 45 minutes; lift for arms, back and stomach (half hour).

4. Jump rope for 20 minutes; run for a half hour; ply metrics exercises with broom stick.

5. Rower machine for 20 minutes; run for a half hour; swim for a half an hour.

By the end of this training, they would definitely be the most primed team. Their plays were very physical so they needed all the help they could get. Hermione usually came with Ron to workout, just to go run on the treadmills and elliptical machines; she would also swim with him. Harry only agreed to this if Hermione promised that there would be no fooling around or disrupt him in anyway. Ron changed a whole lot, now getting up at five in the morning just to workout, before classes. This made him a whole lot more pleasant in the morning. Sometimes he would go and workout after dinner as well. Harry had a large break time where he would do his own workouts if he had finished all his homework. Ginny went without Harry, for fear that they would end up distracting each other. Soon all the other Quidditch teams were wondering where Gryffindor had gone because it looked like they had dropped off the face of the earth.

"Oi! Potter!" Draco yelled across the Entrance Hall to Harry. "Where's your team?"

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Just wondering if they died or something, 'cause I haven't see you out on the pitch."

"'Cause we're not," Harry said cryptically.

"A fat lot of help that is," Draco huffed.

"And that's all you'll get until the season starts back up again," Harry joked.

"Season opener is between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," Draco said.

"And I can't wait!"

The beginning of the season approached extremely fast, but Gryffindor was ready. They could get through the workouts with ease, so they upped what they did, making it harder, or more geared toward themselves.

"Everyone make sure you eat a good breakfast," Harry prompted. He saw Demelza, Dean, Coote, Peak, Ron, and Ginny sitting at the breakfast table and gave an inward smile, thinking that they had the cup with their names written all over it. They were all in their prime and were all now outstanding players. Harry had gotten George to take a day off from the shop to come down and show Peaks and Coote how to work together so they looked seamless. By the end of the training, they were beginning to look more and more like Fred and George did when they were still on the team. Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnett, and Angelina Johnson came back to help give hints to the chasers on how to improve their game. These girls had a tearful reunion with George the one day that they had all come together. Oliver Wood even made it a point to come at least once a month to work with Ron on theory as well as practical applications of Keeper moves. After a while, Ron was competing on the same levels as Oliver, and he was still on Puddelmere United. Ron even got over his little nervousness problems. Hermione sat out at every outdoor practice, whether rain or shine, and did homework or made study guides for their group.

Once everyone was well fed, they all went out to the locker rooms to change. Harry made up hand signals for everyone to follow to determine which plays the chasers would use; this also allowed for the beaters to determine when they could sneak bludgers into the attack zones. As soon as the plays were gone over and the hand signals were reestablished, they got their brooms ready and headed out to the Quidditch pitch when they were announced. They flew out onto the pitch and were met with a tumult of noise from all four houses, even Slytherin and Ravenclaw.

The Gryffindors created a semi-circle around madam Hooch and awaited the Ravenclaws (Keeper/captain- Troy Shroder (5); Seeker- Ashley Chalice (3); Chaser- Stephanie Myers (3); Chaser- Breckin Lewis (6); Chaser- Lauryn Sowell (4); Beater- Jeremy Zaire (6); Beater- George Dallas (6)). Once they flew out Harry walked out to Madam Hooch to go shake hands withTroy. He was a cocky, arrogant fifth year, whom Harry didn't care for at all. They shook hands, but it turned intoTroytrying to crush Harry's hand; that didn't go to well, seeing that Harry's hands had hardened over the years due to training. Harry wasn't fazed by it at all. He returned to his team and grinned maliciously. Harry made the universal symbol that meant, 'kill them all'. All fifteen people out on the pitch mounted their brooms and kicked off as Madam Hooch threw up the Quaffle and blew her whistle. Harry soared up about three hundred feet into the air on his Firebolt. He noticed that Ashley, the Ravenclaw seeker, was following his every move. She was trying to get his attention away from the game, but instead of her voice she used her body. She flew with her arse pushed back and her uniform had been altered to show more cleavage than was really necessary for Quidditch. She was fourteen and quite a looker; her long brown hair reached her waist and shown in the sun, she had bright blue eyes as well. Overall she looked delicate, just like Cho Chang had been those many years ago. Harry was too old and too interested in Ginny to let that distract him.

Harry looked downward over the pitch, surveying his team and saw an amazing sight. His teammates were weaving in an out of the Ravenclaws as if they were standing still. The rest of the school was stunned by the performance of the Gryffindors, who had really made themselves scarce since their return to the school after the holidays. Harry looked around, hoping to see Professor McGonagall's reaction. He mouth was agape as she stared at her team, performing at the highest level of excellence she had seen since the Marauders had been at school. Harry saw a mirth on her face, of which he hadn't seen since before Dumbledore had died. He slowly circled the pitch and nearly fell off his broom. In the Gryffindor stands, next to Hermione and Neville, was Aunt Petunia and Dudley. They were wearing red and gold, just like the rest of his house. Hermione was explaining the rules of the game.

Petunia andDudleyjust sat there as Hermione tried to explain how the game was played. "There's a keeper, that's Ron, who is in front of the hoops to keep that giant red ball, the Quaffle, from going through on of the three hoops. He's like the goalie in football. There are three chasers who handle the Quaffle who try to get it through the hoops; they're like the front line. If they score it's worth ten points. There are two beaters, the ones with bats, and they hit the movie black balls called Bludgers. I guess you could call them like the sweeper, trying to keep things out of their goal. They're supposed to hit the Bludgers at the opposing team's chasers to knock them off course. Last is the seeker, which is Harry. They are the most important player on the team. He has to look for the golden snitch, which is roughly the size of a walnut. If he catches this ball, then the game is over and the winning team gets an extra 150 points."

"Wow," Petunia said as she watched a beater charge at them, trying to race against a Bludger. Coote got there first and knocked the Bludger toward the triad of Ravenclaws.

"I can't believe Harry plays sports,"Dudleysaid.

"Well, he's the best seeker Hogwarts has seen since his father played," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Damn," was allDudleycould say as Ron made a spectacular save with just his feet. "That was wicked!"

"Well, he just works hard," Hermione said nonchalantly. Inside she was swelling with pride for Ron because he had really worked very hard to get this good.

"Now that was bloody awesome," Oliver Wood said. He had just arrived and sat down next to Hermione, whom he had grown close to since he started training Ron.

"I'm glad you could make it Ollie," Hermione said and hugged him. "How've you been?"

"Eh, same ol', same ol'. Can't complain though. We won our game last weekend, so they gave us off for this one."

"I heard, congratulations by the way," she said.

"Thanks," he replied and turned his attention back to the match. Gryffindor was ten minutes into the game and were already up 100 to nothing. Harry circled the pitch, ever searching for the snitch. He finally spotted it nearTroy's goal post. He sped off in that direction and nearly got hit by a Bludger. He caught the snitch butTroydid something that would be considered abominable in any sport. He kicked Harry in the back of the neck. Harry went tumbling off his broom and plummeted toward the ground. Five people in the crowd called out the spell to stop him from falling to the ground: Hermione, Neville, Draco, Susan, and Luna. His fall was stopped until Ron got over to him, and pulled Harry onto his broom. Ginny chased after his Firebolt, which was falling toward the ground. Madam Hooch signaled the end of the match, announcing that Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw 250-0.

Madam Pomfrey rushed out onto the pitch along with Professor McGonagall, the Dursley's, and Hermione. Ron drifted gently to the ground and kept a firm hold over his best friend. Carefully Ron and Dudley lifted Harry to the ground. As soon as Professor McGonagall checked to see if Harry was breathing, she stomped over to findTroy. The rest of his team held him on the pitch so the Head Mistress could come and get him. Thought they were the rival team, they were pissed thatTroywould stoop that low. They all thought Harry was a pretty okay guy.

When the Professor approached,Troyshrunk back in fear. She grabbed him by the ear and drug him up to her office. Madam Pomfrey carefully inspected Harry and found what was wrong. "He's just been knocked out," she concluded. "No neck bones were broken. The force in whichTroywould have kicked him must have just addled his brain, so it just shut down temporarily."

"Oh, thank Merlin!" Ginny cried, throwing her arms aroundDudley, since he was the closest person to her at the moment, in relief. She was afraid to touch him incase she accidentally hurt her back awkwardly. Ron gave him a nod and he gave her a comforting hug. They all traipsed up to the hospital wing with Ron levitating Harry along. They settled him down and woke him up.

"Ennervate," Madam Pomfrey murmured, pointing her wand at his chest. Harry's eyes flickered open and he groaned.

"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch," he yelled.

Ron chuckled. "Now he's back to normal," he said, still laughing slightly.

"No getting out of this bed until Sunday night at least," Madam Pomfrey said sternly.

"How did I get here?" Harry asked, looking around and recognized the hospital wing.

"Well five different students stopped you in mid air and Ron caught you," She began. Harry looked to Ron and Hermione, and they gave him a look that explained who those five people were. "And we levitated you back up you in the back of your neck, but no bones are broken, you were just knocked out."

"Well, that's good," Harry grumbled. "Now I need to get out of here to kill him."

"No Potter," the elder nurse scolded. "Professor McGonagall is taking care of him now."

"Fine," he huffed. "Where's Ginny?"

"Right here Harry," she said, leaving her spot clutchingDudley's side.

"Come 'er, love," he said softly, extending his arms outward. She walked over to him and hugged him. "OW!"

"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry, where does it hurt love?" Ginny said frantically.

"Gotcha!" Harry grinned.

"Oooh, you're gonna get it now, Potter," she smacked his arm playfully.

"I couldn't resist," he said, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly.

"Well, no more visitors tonight," the nurse said sternly.

"But…" Harry started by he was cut off.

"No, they can come tomorrow," she interrupted.

"Fine," he huffed mockingly. "Is this my bed?"

"Yes, we made sure to get your usual bed," the matron teased.

"You all can stay no more than 20 minutes, then he needs his rest."

"Thank you,"Dudleysaid.

"So what did you think of the match?" Harry asked.

"It was bloody brilliant!"Dudleysaid. Aunt Petunia smacked him in the back of the head.

"Don't swear!" she whispered furiously.

"Don't worry," Ron said, pointing to Ginny. "She swears just as much as we do."

"You feckin' git, I bloody do not!" Ginny said fiercely.

"See what I mean?" Ron said. Ginny punched him hard in the arm. "But I think she's far more violent."

"Very funny, Ronald," Ginny said. "Prat!"

"I see what you mean,"Dudleymumbled, snigger lightly. Then he turned to Harry. "I never knew you could be like that."

"Well," Harry said teasingly. "You remember how I used to out run you and all your friends?"

"I just thought it was because I was fat,"Dudleyconceded.

"No, that's true," he said playfully. "But Piers was wicked fast."

"Yeah,"Dudleysaid. "You know he still asks about the two girls."

"What a horn dog," Harry chuckled. Fifteen minutes later Madam Pomfrey kicked them all out, insisting that he needed his rest. She gave him two potions, one for the temporary pain relief and an extended dreamless sleeping potion, which would wear off early tomorrow morning.

"Sleep well Mister Potter. I'm quite sure that you'll see your friend's shining face early tomorrow," she said he downed both of the potions.

"Thanks," Harry said before laying his head back on the oh so familiar pillow. Sleep came several moments later.

Harry turned over in his sleep and suddenly began to hear noises. "Shh, look, he's waking up," Ginny whispered frantically to an unknown person.

"Well keep your britches on Ginny, wait 'till he opens his eyes before you say anything," the unknown person, who turned out to be Ron, said.

"Tell me what?" Harry prompted groggily, rubbing the potion induced sleep from his eyes.

"Oh, Harry, "Ginny cried as she launched herself at him. He returned her hug, stroking her beautiful red hair.

"Well, what is it?" Harry asked again.

"We found outTroy's punishment," she said eagerly. "He had detention every day for a month, no more Hogsmeade visits, and he has to write you a formal letter of apology."

"Well he can keep that," Harry said bitterly. "I'll need to talk with McGonagall about that."

"It's Professor McGonagall to you," she said as she walked across the expanse of the Hospital Wing. "And what do you feel the need to speak with me about?"

"The punishment," he said simply.

"What about it?" she said crisply.

"I don't want his apology," he said. "And he should still have Hogsmeade, it's not like he talked about the battle."

"I have spoken with the remainder of the Ravenclaw team and they agree with the punishment. According to them, he's not too fond of you," she smiled, while Harry scoffed. "So the punishment will stand, with the exception of the letter, I'll just make it to me. Make him apologize for disrupting the Quidditch match."

"Thank you," Harry said, now sitting fully up in the bed.

"You're welcome Potter," she said. "Now how are you feeling?"

"Fine, just a bit sore," Harry said honestly.

"Then you should have this," Madam Pomfrey said, bustling up to the side of his bed.

"Nah, I'll live," Harry said, smiling, "When can I leave?"

"Eager to leave me then?" the matron said teasingly.

"Never," he said endearingly.

"Well, as soon as I evaluate, I'll let you know," she said. Then she began to look at his neck, checking for any swelling and any abnormal lumps of any kind; there were none. She checked his pupils, checking for a concussion; nothing. "I guess you are free to leave, I'll get over it."

"Alright," Harry said playfully before getting up off the bed and hugging the elderly woman. "See you later."

"Good-bye Potter," she replied. All of the teens walked out of the Hospital Wing and left for breakfast. Hermione, Neville, Luna, Susan, and even Draco were there to greet at him with contempt but the rest of the Ravenclaw team greeted him, saying that they were relieved that she was alright.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 Valentines Day **

There were a few days left until Valentine's Day and you could see that there was love in the air, many new couples were springing up all over the place; one being Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch Fletchley. Though the trio had expected it, the rest of the school thought it was something new and exciting. Ron procured the help of Neville, Harry, and Draco for what he had planned. He really wanted to take Hermione to the Shrieking Shack for a private dinner. They transformed the old decrepit house into a lavish palace, if only the inside of a couple of rooms. He even got Crookshanks to help out by prodding the knot on the Whomping Willow, so they could gain access to the house. Neville had called Draco out one night to help them and was awed by the shack.

"How the hell did you figure out this was here?"

"My dad and his friends created a special map and it shows this passageway," Harry began. "And this is where Professor Lupin always went to have his transformations during his school years; that's why it's called the Shrieking Shack; all that noise came from him, and the rest of them, not disturbed spirits."

"That certainly explains a lot," Draco said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Come on then, let's get this done."

"I just want all of you to know that I'm extremely grateful to everything you guys are doing for me," Ron said.

"It's nothing really," Harry said, clapping Ron on the back. Then he rubbed his hands together evilly. "Now let's get cracking!"

"Where the devil have those boys gotten off to?" Hermione asked the girls as they sat around the Head's Dormitory.

"I dunno, let's check the map," Ginny suggested.

"Alright then," Hermione said, heaving herself off the couch. "I'll go and see what they're getting into."

"Alright," Ginny replied. Luna and Susan nodded as well, but they really didn't understand what was so special about this map, and were completely dumbfounded when it was explained.

"What is it?" Susan asked inquisitively.

"Well, when Harry's dad, Professor Lupin, and Sirius Black were back in Hogwarts, they created a map of the school. It shows where everyone is every minute of every day in Hogwarts and on the grounds," Ginny explained.

"So that's why we never got caught at those DA meeting untilMarietta," Luna commented. "That was the grubby piece of paper you three were always pouring over."

"Yeah," Ginny said.

"It's not there Gin," Hermione said, slightly out of breath. She had just returned through the tapestry that led toGryffindorTower.

"What do you mean by 'It's not there'?" Ginny asked slowly, hoping that the older teen had made a mistake.

"I mean I went through Harry's, Ron's, and Neville's trunks and the map is not there whatsoever," Hermione said again, trying to clarify her statement earlier.

"Damn, they must be up to something," Ginny huffed indignantly.

"I guess we can forgive them since Valentine's Day is coming up this weekend," Luna suggested cheerfully. "I mean they are probably planning stuff for us and they don't want us to find out about it all."

"Speaking of which," Susan piped up. "What did you all get them for this special day?"

"I got Neville the book set that he's been saving for, for the past year," Luna said. "It's a set of encyclopedias dealing with healing and plant life."

"That's so sweet!" Ginny cried. "But he could go out and get them if he wanted. I mean he does have enough money at home to have pretty much what ever he wanted."

"I know, but he feels that you need to work to get what you want instead of becoming spoiled by the fact that you could get it the second you want it," Luna said, and this explained the whole complex that was Neville's mind. "Plus, I get an insane discount at Flourish and Blotts for being a reporter and letting them advertise in the Quibbler."

"What'd you get Harry?" Susan asked, turning back to Ginny.

"I ordered a necklace with a few interchangeable charms; one's a wand, one's a broom, and one's a lightning bolt."

"I think he'll like the last one," Susan said brightly. "I got Draco a medieval sword, forged by giants."

"I never knew giants forged swords," Hermione mused.

"Finally, something you don't know," Ginny said, punching the air in triumph.

"Very funny," Hermione said, giving a sneer that Draco would have been impressed by.

"Yeah, no one knows how valuable they really are, so I got it for fairly cheap at a yard sale that some wizards decided to hold," Susan shrugged.

"What about you 'Mione?" Luna asked. "What are you giving Ron?"

"My virginity," she said simply.

"What!" all three girls gasped.

"You mean you haven't slept with my brother yet?" Ginny asked.

"No," said Hermione adamantly.

"Damn, didn't think you'd hold out this long," she commented.

"Well, I can't believe he's stuck with me this long when I haven't been giving him any," Hermione giggled. "I mean, I know sex is supposed to just happen, but I trust him, and I want to be with him, in every sense of the word."

"He talks about you nonstop," Ginny said. "I think he'd stay with you if you decided to stay a virgin your entire life."

"I don't think so," Hermione said. "But I do want to see what your brother is made of."

"That's fine and all just don't tell me," Ginny grimaced.

"Alright then," she said, smiling brightly.

At the Shrieking Shack, the boys had been hard at work for several hours. They cleaned and repainted every room. All the furniture had been repaired and reupholstered. They had given the house a complete make over.

"This looks good," Neville said as they all stepped back to admire their work.

"But what if she doesn't like it?" Ron asked nervously, toying with the bottom of his shirt and fidgeting slightly.

"It'll be fine, mate," Harry assured. "Plus, she'll appreciate the effort you put out to impress her."

"We all put out effort, thank you," Ron said sincerely.

"Anytime, Weasley," Draco smirked.

"Well, what are you all doing for your girlfriends?"

"I've gotten Susan a necklace with her family's coat of arms on it," Draco said.

"I've ordered Ginny a fire bolt," Harry said.

"I've actually been thinking about proposing to Luna," Neville said quietly, almost to himself.

"Really?" they all replied and turned toward him.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, she's all a bit odd, but that's what I love about her, I want that oddness for the rest of my life."

"Go for it,Nev," Harry said sincerely.

"Yeah, mate," Draco and Ron said together.

"Alright, enough sentiments for today, let's get back to the castle," Harry said. "I really don't fancy being on the wrong side of a Weasley woman."

"I hear you mate," Ron said. "I remember Mum with the wooden spoons."

"What about 'em?" Neville asked.

"They were charmed not to break," Ron grimaced, cringing at the horrible memories of his livid mother chasing after him, using his full name and thrashing the wooden spoon about.

"Ouch," the others said simultaneously.

All four boys left the Shrieking Shack via the tunnel from the base of the Whomping Willow. They carefully made their way back to the Head's Dormitory.

"Where _have_ you been?" Hermione trilled, sounding too much like Molly Weasley than any of the guys wanted her to at the moment.

"Um… outside on the pitch, having a bit of a toss around," Ron said, hoping that she wouldn't pick up on his lie.

"Alright then," Hermione conceded.

"You're going to believe them? Just like that?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, the signs fit. They're all sweaty, and dirty, and probably trying to teach Neville how to play," Hermione said, then hastily added. "No offense Neville."

"None taken," he replied. "I know I can't really play worth a shite."

"I'm sure you're not that bad," Luna piped in as she hugged her boyfriend.

"No, really I am, ask them," Neville said, pointing at the remaining three guys. They were rubbing the backs of the necks nervously as the nodded in agreement. "See?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The big day had finally come and each guy was rather nervous. Ron got up early and left Hermione a note:

_'When you get up, love, follow Crookshanks, he'll know where to find me. But you'll have to make a few pit stops after breakfast though._

_Love, Ronald'_

Ron made his way outside with Crookshanks. He prodded the knot with his paw and let Ron near the passageway. He scratched the ginger cat behind the ears. "Thanks. You know, you're not so bad after all. Now go and wait for her to wake up. Remember the plan," Ron whispered.

Ron followed the passageway and walked into the not so elegant house. Ron thought this would decimate Remus' memory, but Harry reminded him that Remus hated to come here; he would have really liked what they had done with the place. "Er…Kreacher, Winky?" he called out into the darkness. Harry had offered up Kreacher to help Ron.

CRACK. Kreacher and Winky appeared. "Master Weasley," he croaked happily, bowing deeply. "What can Kreacher get for Master Weasley?" He and Winky nodded in agreement, as well as eagerness.

"Well I was wondering if you two could make this in exchange for a galleons a piece," Ron handed Kreacher a list of Hermione's favorite foods. The two house-elves nodded excitedly. He pulled two galleons from his pocket and handed them over to the elves. They gave a smile, a bow, a CRACK, and they were gone.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hermione woke up and reached out to the other side of her bed like she did every morning, but unlike every other morning, Ron wasn't there. She felt that the sheets were still a slight bit warm, indicating that he had only gotten up less than an hour ago. She spotted a note on her bedside table and read it quickly.

"I'll meet you here after breakfast," she told Crookshanks. Hermione skipped down to the Great Hall to get a quick bite to eat. She was greeted by a bunch of friendly faces but not the friendly face she was desperate to see, today of all days. Ron wasn't here, and no one seemed to be able to tell her where he was at the moment. When she returned to the common room she bit them good-bye and followed Crookshanks for her scavenger hunt.

Hermione followed the orange bottlebrush tail all the way to the astronomy tower. When she looked around, she found a small package. It was a small box, no more than two inches by two inches. When she opened it, she gasped in surprise "Oh, Ron." She looked down and saw a small pair of diamond earrings. "These are absolutely beautiful."

_'My dearest Mione,_

_When I saw these earrings, I immediately thought of you. They are simple, straight to the point – they're exquisite. If you would, take all the gifts and wear them tonight. Crookshanks will show you where to go. Follow the bottlebrush tail!_

_Love,_

_Ronald'_

There was yet another note from Ron there as well.

_'Follow the cat where we had a great spat, those birds sure were heard!'_

She chuckled at this note. Crookshanks was on the move again, leading her back down to the abandoned classroom where she had sent some canaries after Ron for snogging with Lavender Brown. Hermione shrunk the box and put it in her pocket while hurrying after her lovable cat. Crookshanks led her to the room, where a slightly large package was and yet another note.

_'In this box are shoes. I hope you like them, I sure do. I would love to see your pretty little feet in them.'_

Ron always did like her feet. Even when he was supposed to be giving her a back rub, he always managed to end up rubbing her feet. She opened the box and saw the most amazing shoes that she had ever seen; black, three-inch heeled, open toed dragon hide shoes. Hermione immediately fell in love with them.

_'Go to the place where only you could have good taste; take a look in your favorite book.'_

"Oh, Ronald Weasley. You'll pay for these rhymes," she said under her breath. Hermione followed Crookshanks down two more flights of stairs to the all too familiar library. She greeted Madam Pince like usual and headed off to the known stack where her favorite book, Hogwarts: A History, resided. She had an inkling as to where he placed the note. She leafed through the book until she reached the section on Apparating. Sure enough there was a necklace with a singular diamond pendant. 'Typical Ron,' she thought.

_'Still nothing flashy, but that's really fine; just for the girl who I've finally made mine.'_

Crookshanks took off down the aisle and Hermione took off after him. The pair sped down several corridors and secret passageways, all the way down to the portrait of the giant bowl of fruit. Hermione tickled the pear in just the right spot. When it giggles a door handle appeared. She walked in, only to be greeted by Kreacher and Winky, and a large box.

"Winky is here with a note for Miss Granger from Master Weasley," she announced proudly, thrusting the note into her hand.

_'They're paid.'_

Was all it said. "Thank you Winky," Hermione said. She opened the box only to find an elegant black dress. She put the lid back on the box and shrunk it. Stowing it in her pocket, she took after Crookshanks again. He took her all the way back to the Head Common Room. Everyone was still there.

"How'd the scavenger hunt go?" Ginny asked innocently.

"You knew didn't you?" Hermione questioned.

"Just the last part I swear," Ginny said, holding her hands up in front of her.

"What do you mean the last part?"

"Just look up in your room," Ginny prodded. "You can kill me after your date if you still want to."

"Fine," Hermione huffed as she went into her dorm room. There was a final note on the bed along with a pink box.

_'Dear Hermione,_

_As you can see, I've left you several things all over the castle. Winky and Kreacher have been paid, so you don't have to worry. I was a bit hesitant about this last gift but Ginny insisted for some odd reason. But I hope you still like it. Please, pamper yourself today and be ready to follow Crookshanks at __eight o'clock__ for your dinner reservations._

_Love,_

_Ronald'_

Hermione cautiously opened the box sitting on the bed. "GINNY!" Hermione screamed. The box held a black lace strapless bra, with flower patterns in the lace, and there was a black silk thong. "Why on Earth would you tell Ron I want this?"

"Because of the gift you are going to give him," Ginny said sweetly.

"What did you give her?" Luna asked.

"A set like your yellow one, but this is in black," Ginny said.

"Oh," said Susan and Luna in unison.

"Well, that's good," Luna said. "Neville liked that, so Ron should like it as well."

"Luna!" Neville cried.

"What? You did," Luna reasoned. "Don't be embarrassed, it's just sex."

"I know…" he mumbled. Luna gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

**_Meanwhile…_**

Hermione slipped into the tub which she and Neville shared. Slowly she lowered herself into the bubbles and smelt of jasmine, her favorite scent on her. It was if all her troubles and stresses and worried had just melted away with the warm bath water. She scrubbed her body very thoroughly and washed her bushy hair until it was nice and soft.

"Don't drown in there," Ginny called out after nearly an hour of no noise from the room. "Ron won't thank me for that."

"I'm just getting out, don't worry," Hermione responded loudly. She stepped out of the large bathtub and towel dried herself off. For some reason, it always felt better not to use magic when it came to cleaning yourself, especially after not doing so for a long time. Once she was done, she walked back into her room and opened the box of lingerie.

"He had better like this," Hermione grumbled. For years she had seen all her cousins and the other girls in the tower wear them, but they always seemed to look uncomfortable, like some dental floss shoved up your arse crack. She picked up the thong and slipped it on. It was surprisingly comfortable, maybe because it was silk, maybe not. Though she wasn't busting at the seams of her blouse, she definitely filled it out better than many others in the school. Her stomach was relatively flat, only slightly rounded; she really wanted to shed her layer of 'winter fat', and she called it. Her bra looked absolutely stunning on her.

"Perfect," she said as she sauntered over to the box which held her dress. She opened it and held it at an arm's length to admire it **(The of the dress worn by Sandra Bullock when she comes out of the airplane hanger after her major transformation in Miss Congeniality).** It was skintight, nearly no straps, and it barely covered her breasts and reached to the middle of her thighs.

"Ronald Weasley, boy you're in for it," she mused, admiring herself. When she finished her bout of narcissism, she fixed her hair, magically straightening it. She put the earrings on and the necklace carefully. Her makeup was very simple, just black mascara, sliver eye shadow, and pink lip-gloss.

"Perfect," her reflection in the mirror said. She cleaned up everything in her room and went out to the common room. She spun in careful circles, careful not to trip in her brand new heels. "What do you think?"

"It looks better on you than on the play wizard model," Draco commented, barely looking up from his game of chess with Neville.

"Er… Wow," Hermione said, blushing.

"Don't get used to the compliments, Hermione," Draco drawled. "I just want this night to go off without a hitch; Ron's been planning this all week."

"Oh," Hermione said, surprise in her voice.

"You'll be fine," Luna said reassuringly.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked nervously.

"He'll go crazy, don't worry Mione," Harry assured.

"Well, it's eight," she said brushing nonexistent dirt off the front of her dress. "I have to follow the bottlebrush tail."

Hermione carefully walked out of the Head common room and followed her lovable orange cat into the Entrance Hall. Crookshanks led her outside, along the path to the Whomping Willow. He dodged the flailing branches to press his paw to the secret knot on the trunk.

"He wants me to go into that dingy tunnel, looking like this?" she asked herself. She sent a message to Ron with her patronus. Several moments after she sent her silver otter into the tunnel, a silver terrier came out.

"_Trust me_," Ron's voice said, and the terrier disappeared.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't trust him this much," Hermione muttered to herself as she walked to the entrance of the passageway. She lowered herself carefully into the passage and gasped. It was clean, and now the floor was paved with giant flat stones. She clicked and clacked her way down the passageway. Once she reached the exit, she climbed out.

"Ooh," she cried softly. The entire house was clean and all the furniture was repaired that she could see. There was also a note.

_'Follow the red line.'_

She found the red line on the floor and took off to the final location. She walked into the room they had all met Sirius Black in five years ago. The large four-poster bed was off in the far corner, the piano was refurbished and playing a tune softly in the background, and a small dining table set for two. Ron shut the door behind her and she jumped.

"I trust you found your way easily enough," Ron said quietly.

"Yes, and I thought your little scavenger hunt was interesting. Your style was so… so… charming," she chuckled lightly.

"Er… Well, I didn't want to get the sized wrong," Ron said sheepishly.

"I'll be sure to thank Ginny then," she said ruefully.

"Would you care to eat then?" he asked, holding her chair out for her. She walked over to him and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips before sitting down. She noticed that Ron had gotten all of her favorite foods.

"How did you get all of this done?" Hermione asked conversationally as they sat down to eat.

"I had some help," he said. "The guys helped me get this place ready. And you know how much work we put in seeing as you knew what it was like. And I gave the girls an idea of what I wanted. They took me shopping and I picked out what you're wearing."

"It's beautiful," she aid quietly.

"But the shoes, those I picked out on my own, I just liked them a lot. They just looked so… you," he finished.

"Well I love them," she said, beaming brightly. "They're comfy."

"That's because I put a cushioning charm on them," Ron said. "They shop lady suggested it since they weren't broken in or anything, she thought they might irritate your lovely feet."

"Brilliant!" she cried softly and reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. "I do have your gift but I'll have to give it to you a bit later."

"Alright then," Ron said. They ate in silence, but it wasn't really quiet. They kept looking at each other and giggled at their nervousness. After supper, Ron brought out a bottle champagne. He poured two flutes with the liquid and gave one to Hermione.

"To us," Ron said, toasting her.

"To my gift," Hermione toasted. They downed both glasses fairly quickly and Ron poured another.

"Alright, you've teased me for long enough," Ron started. "What's my gift?"

"Something you've wanted for a while," she said. "Something I wasn't ready for until tonight."

His eyes opened wide when she finished,

"You s—sure?" he asked, and then downed his second flute of champagne.

"Yes," she said confidently. When she set her glass on the table, she got up and walked to his side of the table. He pushed back from the table and she settled herself in his lap. "You knew this was coming, I mean, you couldn't have picked out those underwear if not."

"I guess I did think of it," he gulped. "I didn't want to seem like an arse and be too presumptuous."

"Come on, this outfit is like sex on legs," she said gesturing to herself.

"Well, yeah," Ron shrugged. She leaned in and kissed him full on the mouth. Instinctively his arms went around her waist, pulling her closer and kissing her back. Any nervousness that she had previously just disappeared as she ran her fingers through his soft, lush, red hair. He hooked his arms under her knees and around her back and lifted them out of the chair. She gasped, causing him to deepen the kiss. He carried her almost with practiced ease, over to the bed and carefully lowered her over the beautiful dark blue comforter her hair was sprawled out all over the bed, making her look angelic in the candle light.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured. She replied by pulling him down so all of his weight deliciously pushed her deeper into the mattress. She moaned. He kissed her yet again, but this time there was more passion, if that was even possible; there was more feeling behind it. They rolled around on the bed a bit trying to get shoes off, shirts unbuttoned and dresses off. Soon they were completely nude and under the silk sheets.

Ron positioned himself between her legs. "I'm sorry, this is going to hurt."

"I want this so bad," Hermione moaned. She pulled him in for a kiss while pushing her hips up toward him, urging him off. He carefully entered her, making sure not to hurt her anymore than he already was. A single tear made its way down her cheek, glistening in the moon light. He stopped its path and brushing it away with the pad of his thumb.

"I love you," he murmured as he started to move slowly back and forth.

"I love you too… Oh!" she cried out as he pulled nearly the entire way out and pushed back in rather hard. She clasped her hands on his lower back, trying to force him in further. "Oh, harder!"

Ron complied, pushing himself harder and further than before. All he felt was ecstasy and he hoped it was the same for her, since she seemed to be past the painful part. Her face was a beautiful sight, pure love and lust was written across it.

He felt a familiar tingling feeling in his loins; he was coming close. He felt her inner walls start to close in on him; he could tell she was getting close too. Ron snaked his hand under her, lifting her lower back off the bed. She could feel the angle change; he thrust in deeper, now hitting the spot she seemed to think he couldn't hit before. It only took a minute or two more before her inner walls clamped down on him, signaling her release. This action put him over the edge. Ron collapsed on top of her, but rested his weight on his forearms, trying not to crush her.

"Am I too heavy?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

"No," she replied, pulling him closer down to her, resting his full weight on her. "Just perfect."

Harry had his entire day to rest; he had already helped Ron all week, and he just had to plan where to take Ginny; somewhere he couldn't be interrupted and where she could get away from everyone else. His choice was obvious, the Room of Requirement. The Firebolt had come in at Quality Quidditch Supplies and Professor McGonagall let him out to go get it one evening. With the broom stick in his pocket he led Ginny to the Room of Requirement. She had his necklace in her pocket and she had bought something else as well. He walked in front of the doorway three times and the door way finally revealed itself.

"My lady," he said, offering his arm. He escorted her inside the room. There was a large plush carpet in front of a fire. They sat down on the rug in front of the fire. They had the room provide them with some food, and the couple had a picnic of sorts in the very memorable room. (**A/N: I know that the room can't provide food, but Kreacher and Winky were busy. For the sake of this story, the room can provide food**).

"I have your present," Harry said as the room did away with their dishes and the leftover food. He pulled the broomstick from his pocket. He resized the gift and laid it out in front of her. She gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, Harry,' it's wonderful," she said. Nearly launching herself at him.

"I figure you deserve a broom for your last year here. And I figure that you're always going to play no matter what you do later on in our lives."

"Now I can fly straight," Ginny cried from her hug, truly excited to get the new broom; subtly noticing that he said 'our life'. She dug in her pocket and she broke the hug and pulled out the necklace with the other two charms. She handed him the necklace.

"This is amazing," Harry said brightly, running his fingers over the silver box chain. "The charms are cool, especially the lightning bolt."

"I thought you might," she said mysteriously. "But there's something else as well."

Ginny got up and went over to the window. Once it was open she whistled into the night air, a very distinct whistle. Harry heard a rustling of wings and Ginny returned from the window with a snowy white owl perched on her arm.

"Harry, meet Harlan, our new owl," Ginny announced.

"Ours?" he asked, making sure of what she was saying. "You want to get an owl together?"

"Believe it or not, Mister Potter, you're stuck with me," she said teasingly.

"I like the sounds of that," Harry said thoughtfully. "Ginevra Potter. Mrs. Potter."

"Someday," she said wistfully. "Maybe."

"I fear you are stuck with me as well, my dear," Harry said, regret seeped within his voice.

"You want to show me how much I'm stuck with you?" she challenged, quirking one eyebrow up.

"Only if you're up for it," he retorted, clearing away their gifts with a sweep of his hand; his wandless magic was a force to be reckoned with now, though it was relatively calm in comparison to Hermione's.

Ginny all by tackled Harry to the ground. "Alright then, Har, let's see what you've got."

"My pleasure, dear," he said, flipping them over forcefully. Harry knew that he could plunge right in, that playful tone in her voice meant she was ready for anything. He thrust his hips up and sank in to the hilt. Ginny's breath caught as he plunged in, but her body was screaming for more. Harry stilled and grabbed her legs, forcing one to wrap around his waist and one was pinned above his shoulder, giving him a better angle. With this new position, Ginny could feel everything so much more. She could feel the stone pressing roughly against her back, Harry thrusting violently in and out of her, and she was loving every minute of it. It didn't take too much time for things to build, and soon stars were shining on the inside of her eyelids, and she was calling out his name. He roared out his release before collapsing on top of her, making a sweaty pile on the floor of the Room of Requirement.

"We are so doing that again," Ginny panted from the bottom of the pile, rubbing her hand along his sweaty back. Harry chuckled and nodded his head tiredly

"Just give me a few minutes."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Draco and Susan had a regular dinner in the Great Hall, but he sat at her table, shocking most of the students in the Great Hall. He murmured into her ear before they left atnine o'clock, "Would you like to go back to my room?" she looked up at him fearfully. "We don't have to do anything, I just want you to spend the night, just like at Longbottom's house."

"Alright then," she said. "I just have to stop by my dorm to pick up your present."

"You didn't have to get me anything," Draco insisted, swinging their intertwined hands back and forth slightly.

"Well I already heard that you had gotten me something," she said slyly. "So I feel justified in getting you this."

"Well then, milady," Draco said, formally extending his arm to her instead of his hand. She accepted it, slipping her arm through his. "May I escort you to your dorm room?"

"Surely good sir," she said as they walked out of the Great Hall, up the three flights to the Hufflepuff dormitories. He waited outside for her, though she had invited him in. Susan returned to him is less that five minutes with the sword shrunken and placed in her pocket. She just had on a pair of skinny jeans and a jumper of his, making her look absolutely perfect in his eyes. He really didn't want a girl who was really high maintenance; he had dealt with all that with Pansy for years and was tired of that. She was perfect for him; didn't bother much with makeup, practically ran her fingers through her hair before leaving for class. He offered his arm again, and they headed back down the stairs, down to the dungeon common room. No one really looked up when he walked in; pretty much no one ever paid him any mind, which he enjoyed immensely. He had the right amount of friends now, and they all were from different houses, mainly Gryffindor. He grabbed Susan's hand, entwining their fingers as they crossed the evilly lit common room. He opened the door to his private dorm room, which Professor McGonagall gave him as a precaution; not knowing how the others would react to him fighting on the side of the light in the end.

"Why didn't anyone say 'hi' to you?" she asked quizzically.

"No one except our friends talk to me anymore," he admitted. Susan looked him in the eye and could tell with out the use of Legilimency that he was telling the truth, and that it hurt him that he couldn't befriend anyone in his own house. She leaned over and hugged him, it nearly rivaled the one that Molly had given him before the winter break. He hugged her back just as tightly; he loved the affection he had not received as a child.

"So…" he began. "What'd you get me?"

"You are such a little kid Draco," she said, slapping him lightly on the arm. She dug the box out of her pocket and resized it as she sat down on the bed.

"What could this be?" he asked.

"Something I hope you find interesting," she said as he unwrapped the box and carefully lifted the lid. He gave a sharp intake of breath.

"Golgotha." (**Idk if this has multiple meanings or significance. I heard it in some movie and liked the name. deal.**)

"You know what this is?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course, I've always searched for one," he breathed. "Where ever did you find this?"

"Some people were having a Muggle yard sale and I saw it there," she said.

"Really?" he asked. "Giant-made swords are so hard to come by."

"Oh, I remember my Auntie talking about them," she shrugged. He leaned over and kissed her full on the mouth, trying to show her all the love he could muster with that one kiss.

"I love you," he murmured into her hair after he broke the kiss and just hugged her.

"I love you too," she murmured back.

"Before I forget, this is for you," he said, pulling away from their embrace. He pulled a long box from the drawer on the side of his bed table. She took the box when he offered it, trying to figure out what he could have possibly gotten. "I hope you like it, but if not, I completely understand."

"Why wouldn't I like it…" she trailed off as she opened the box and saw the Bones' family crest. A tear made its way down her slightly tanned cheek.

Draco wasn't used to girls in tears, so he wasn't really sure how to handle this. Thinking of what he would want when he cried (to be left alone) and safely discarded that theory. He pulled her close to him, letting her settle on his lap. Draco just let her cry on his shoulder while he rubbed her back lightly. "Tha—Thank ***sob*** you ***sob*** so ***sob*** much ***sob***."

"Why are you crying? I didn't expect this reaction," he admitted, pulling her closer to him, and cradling her in his arms.

"I've lost my family, all of them," she sobbed. "My parents died in the first war, and my Auntie was killed in the second war. I got special permission to live on my own this summer, but the house is so empty, I can't stand it."

"Look, look at me," Draco demanded softly. "You are coming to stay with me until we find somewhere more permanent for us."

"For us?" she repeated, looking up at him, hiccoughing when the tears stopped.

"Yes, for us," Draco reassured her. "Unless you would like living at the Manor for a while."

"I don't mind, but I just want to be somewhere I can be around family, and people who love each other."

"You mean, love you," Draco reminded. "I do, and anyone I love, my parents will love as well."

"Are you sure they are going to like me, I mean, I'm a Hufflepuff you know," she pointed out with a watery chuckle. "I know that's not quite what they're used to…"

"No, you're not what they're used to, but they will have to like you," Draco said. "Because I've fallen for a gorgeous Hufflepuff."

"Oh Draco," she signed., He lay them both on the side of the bed and she snuggled close to him. "When do I get to meet your parents?"

"Spring Break?" Draco suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," she yawned.

"And don't think of you being the last Bones, but think of being the newest Malfoy someday." And with those final sentiments she drifted off to sleep. Draco hooked the necklace on her and gathered her close to his chest. He promptly fell asleep with him spooning Susan, thinking of their potential life together.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Neville took Luna out for a moon lit stroll around the grounds after dinner, keeping a warming charm around them; it was still nippy out due to it still being February. Slowly they approached the greenhouse where they first spoke to each other **(A/N: I know that they talked on the train, but for the sake of my romantic side, they first spoke at the green house)** Once they reached the front of the building, Neville put his hand in his pocket, nervously clutching the box with the ring in it. "You know I love you right?" he asked.

"Of course," Luna assured him "And I love you too."

"Good," Neville muttered distractedly.

"Is there anything the matter" she asked worriedly.

"No…" he trailed off. "But I do have something to ask you."

"What is it?"

Neville slowly lowered himself to one knee and fished the box out of his pocket. "Luna Anne Lovegood, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Oh, Merlin," she exclaimed. "Yes!"

Neville sprung up and plucked the ring from the box, and put it on her left ring finger. They shared a very passionate kiss under the moonlight; quite romantic if you think about it.

"It's getting rather chilly out here," Neville began as he felt the warming charm wear off. "Do you want to go inside?"

"Alright," she conceded. "Only if I can stay in your room tonight."

"You can always stay in my room, that's never an issue," Neville insisted.

"Well, then, I plan on staying with my fiancé more often," she replied.

"That's fine with me," Neville replied, taking her left hand in his right, relishing in the feeling of the ring on her finer.

Neville had planted the seed in his Gran's head near the end of the Christmas break. Since Luna and Neville split their time between their houses, so Gran got to meet Luna and really liked her. He had also been owling Gran and Xenophilius, asking permission to marry his daughter. Xenophilius was quite agreeable to this, since he liked Neville very much. Neville pretty much agreed with all of the creatures that they had believed existed, or at least went along with the ones that he didn't think could be real, and after graduation, they decided to go track some of them before he had to start his healer-training program.

By the time his little reverie was over, they were walking outside the Head Dormitory. They went in and headed up to his bedroom. He caught her in a large hug and spun her around. She laughed unabashedly and kissed him fully. He laid her carefully out on the bed. They had only slept together twice, mainly because opportunities were so scarce. They looked into each others eyes and any outsider could see the love flowing between these two teens. They got so caught up in making love, Luna forgot completely about her gift for Neville.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Morning came much too early for all the teens. Draco loved the feeling of waking up next to Susan; he could picture himself waking up next to her for the rest of his life. Harry and Ginny ended up naked on the large plush rug in the Room of Requirement. Ron had been sleeping next to Hermione pretty much since Halloween night, but waking up next to her after last night was the absolute best feeling in the world. He learned over and kissed her shoulder. He reveled in the feeling of her naked back pressed into his naked chest. He slipped a hand around her waist and held her closer to him.

"Morning love," she replied, wriggling back, trying to get even closer.

"Unless you want to be here all day, I suggest you don't do that," Ron advised.

"What if I don't want to leave?" Hermione asked slyly. Ron didn't even need to look at her to know that she had a smirk on her face that would have made Draco proud. Ron pushed his pelvis into her, letting her feel that he had no objections to all of this. Hermione rolled over to face him, her eyes hooded with desire. "Well…?"

She was cut off when Ron's lips crashed down on hers. Her hands swam her way down his chest. He went to roll them over so he was on top but Hermione kept rolling so she was on top. She sat up on his thighs, the blanket falling away from her.

"I want to see you," she murmured. Hermione's hands pressed firmly to his chest. She got to see the familiar freckled chest which she had grown to love over the years. Slowly her eyes moved lower, down to his stomach. He was really getting definition from all those workouts Harry had set. Finally her eyes rested on him, the part of Ron which had made her go crazy last night. He wasn't enormous, but he was by no means small. She took him in her hand and gently began stroking. He inhaled sharply, but slowly relaxed, letting his head fall backwards and let out a soft moan. She shifted her weight lower on his legs and he didn't think much of it until he felt a warmth envelope the tip. His head snapped forward and saw her taking him into her mouth.

She looked at him nervously, as if she was doing something wrong. He gave her an assuring look, telling her that she was doing it right. She smiled with her eyes and continued with her work. She swirled her tongue around the tip, sucking lightly. She took as much of him in as she possibly could, having the head hit the back of her throat. He groaned and Hermione felt a feeling of pride within her. She, never in a million years, believed that she could bring Ron to this point. Her confidence grew as she moved faster and faster. He became even harder as her ministrations continued. He could feel the impending release coming and warned her.

"Mione, you don't… Ahh," he cried out his release as she gave one long suck. He came and she swallowed him all the way down. She kissed his way up his chest and chastely kissed his lips. "What brought this on?"

"I just wanted to see if I could do it," she shrugged. Ron let his hands rest on her bare bottom.

"Oh really?" he smirked.

"Really," she returned. Ron rolled them over so he was on top.

"My turn," he said slyly. He kissed her deeply and moved his hands to her sides. He trailed his way down to her collarbone and sucked lightly. Marked her as his own. Slowly he kissed down past her breasts, lingering long around her nipples. She all but screamed her approval of the movements. His nose dipped into her bellybutton, causing her to erupt into giggles. As he tickled her, he slipped a finger into her folds.

"Oh," she gasped in surprise. Soon his mouth replaced his finger. She moaned loudly over this. She entwined her hands in his long ginger hair and pulled him closer. She looked down and saw his nose buried in her soft brown curls; it did nothing but turn her on more. Ron kept at it for a fair few minutes before he felt her inner walls start to contract. She screamed his name as she came onto his face and he cleaned her up thoroughly.

"Oh, Ron," she panted, still coming back from her sexual high. "That was bloody amazing."

"Language Miss Granger," Ron chided mockingly as he kissed her deeply. She tasted herself on his lips and it felt so exotic.

"We have to go now," Hermione said, still very unwilling to leave.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Neville awoke to a blond haired witch spooning with him. He smiled inwardly because he finally had a fiancé who was this much in love with him. He pulled her closer to him and nuzzled his nose into her hair. She was mumbling something about Death Eaters. She started thrashing about.

"Luna," he murmured into her ear; still she thrashed around a bit. He murmured her name again. She cried out. Neville turned her around and pulled her even closer. "Luna!"

"OH!" she cried as she woke up.

"Luna what was that?" Neville asked, genuinely concerned.

"J-just a nightmare," she explained as she tried to control her rapid breathing. "I get them from time to time, and it's all about the Death Eaters; how they captured me and held me at Malfoy Manor."

"Oh, Luna, I'm so sorry that you ever had to go through this," Neville said before kissing her deeply. Luna returned the kiss but broke away shortly.

"I forgot to give you your present last night," she said.

_'Good ol' Luna,' Neville thought. 'Always bouncing back from anything.'_

"You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, come on," Luna urged. She sat up in bed, exposing her bare torso. 'Not modest at all, this on is,' Neville inwardly chuckled. Luna plucked what seemed to be a small parcel out of the pocket of her hoodie. "Engorgio," she muttered. The package turned out to be rather large.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Neville protested. "Just you saying 'yes' was present enough for me."

"Well this is something you've wanted for quite a while," Luna said.

Neville unwrapped the book set and inhaled vigorously. "Merlin Luna!" he exclaimed. "How on earth did you afford this?"

"I get quite a discount at Flourish and Blotts, so I asked Daddy to pick it up for me," she shrugged.

"I don't know how I could ever thank you," Neville said.

"You already did," she said gently raising her left hand. Neville grabbed it and kissed it gently.

"I love you," he murmured.

"I love you too," she murmured back. She slipped her hoodie on and her jeans as well, without putting on her undergarments. Neville actually put all of his clothes on.

"I still don't understand how you can go around without your underwear on; that just feels so weird."

"Well, you ripped my things last night and I don't have time to go get new," she returned.

"Why not?"

"Because I want to go meet our friends and tell them our happy news."

There was much fawning over Luna's ring and the men congratulated Neville on finally plucking up enough courage to propose. The girls stole Luna away, questioning her about how he proposed.

"So what happened then?" Hermione asked.

"I gave him the book set," she said nonchalantly. The three remaining girls looked disappointed. "That was after I shagged his brains out."

The girls giggled profusely. Overall, they all agreed that Valentines day had gone off without a hitch.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 19: Ron's Birthday

**A/N: Just a short little chapter before another quite long one = ) enjoy**

The morning of Ron's birthday had finally arrived and there was a hug surprise party planned in the Head dorm later that night. Ginny and Harry had been in charge of the invitations. Hermione had spoken to Professor McGonagall and had gotten permission to invite Ron's brother and their significant others, as well as several of their old friends who had already graduated. They sent invited out to: Seamus Finnegan, Lavender Brown, Pavarti Patil, Padma Goldstein, Anthony Goldstein, George Weasley, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Oliver Wood, Percy Weasley, Penelope Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley, Fleur Weasley, Gabrielle Delacour, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fetchley, Dean Thomas, Julia Clearwater, Ernie Macmillan, and of course the seven teens planning it.

It would be Hermione's job to keep him distracted. She had is all planned: she was going to ask him to go flying, so she could get over her fear of heights, and so she could go with him more often; they could work out for hours, she as even willing to offer sex in the afternoon if she couldn't get him distracted him enough. When they arrived for breakfast, it seemed like it was going to be a typical morning; then the owl post came. Hermione recognized the owl she bought for her parents: Blackie.

'Mione come quickly to the hospital down the street from our practice. Mum's in labor, it's going to happen any time. She says bring Ron as well.

Love,

Dad

Ps. Don't get into trouble.'

"Ooh," she squealed.

"What is it Mione?" Ron asked as he gathered his breakfast at the Gryffindor table.

"My mum's having the babies," she cried. "Eat your breakfast while I go to talk to Professor McGonagall about going." She scurried off to the staff table so she could talk to the stern looking Headmistress.

"Miss Granger," she greeted the bushy haired 19 year old. "What do I owe this early morning pleasure to?"

"My mum is having my baby sisters," Hermione said. "Is there any way Ron and I can go now?"

"Mister Weasley?"

"My, mum really likes him, and wants him to be there," Hermione explained.

"Well, I'll owl Aberforth and you can floo to Hogsmeade. You can apparate from there."

"Oh, thank you so much!" the younger witch said brightly.

"Just owl me when you are returning," she reminded her.

"Oh that won't be necessary," Hermione assured. "We have to be back here for the surprise party for Ron at seven."

"Your sisters are to be born on his birthday?" Professor McGonagall mused. "That's got to be an ego boost for him."

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," Hermione shrugged.

"Alright then. May I borrow your owl?" she asked as she transfigured two of her utensils into a quill and parchment.

"Of course," Hermione replied. She whistled distinctly and called Blackie to her as Professor McGonagall wrote a quick note to Aberforth, warning him of the two teens impending arrival.

Hermione returned to the table to get a bite to eat. Ron had the bright idea of packing some food for later. They headed back to the Head Dorm to pack a few things; a couple of transfigured things for the babies. The couple worked their way back to Professor McGonagall's office, so they could use her fireplace. They floo'd to the Hogs Head Inn and greeted Aberforth Dumbledore and his wife Patricia.

"Thanks for letting us floo in for the day, we'll be back before seven," Hermione whispered the last part into the old man's ear as she hugged him.

"Alright," he murmured back. The two teens walked out of his shop and apparated into her parents private office in their practice. Hermione left the office and they made their way down to the hospital. They headed directly to the reception desk.

"Emma Granger?" Hermione asked, out of breath from their rush.

"You family?" the nurse said, not looking up from her paperwork.

"Betty, it's me, Hermione," she urged. The woman looked up and looked the teenager over.

"Goodness girl, I haven't seen you in years," the nurse beamed. "How you been?"

"Just fine, away at school and all," Hermione said.

"Who's your friend?" the young nurse eyed Ron up.

"This is my boyfriend, Ron," Hermione explained. "We met at school."

"That's wonderful," she praised. "Your mum is up on floor four, Maternity. Room423"

"Thanks Betty," Hermione said. She grabbed Ron's hand and they headed over to the lifts. It took them up to the fourth floor. She all but ran out of the lift and found room 423. Ron caught up to her as she opened the door.

"Mum!" she cried. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm trying to push two objects roughly the size of bowling balls through a ten centimeter opening. How do you think I'm feeling?" she yelled exasperatedly.

"She's been like this for a few hours now, since four in the morning," Richard Granger said, feeding his wife more ice chips. Hermione stood next to her mum and cooed words of encouragement. Ron went over and shook Richard's hand.

"How are you holding up?" Ron asked a rather frazzled Richard.

"I almost forgot what this was like," Richard said, running his fingers through his hair. "I was your age when we had Hermione."

"You were 18 when you had her?" Ron asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes, which is why I want you two to be really careful," Richard said. "I don't want Hermione to end up like that, you either."

"Well, we're care-," Ron trailed off, mentally slapping himself for revealing the fact that he had slept with Hermione, and to her father no less. "Er, sorry."

"I understand," Richard said, patting him on the shoulder. "I figured that you two would after how many months?"

"Um, 9 months, a bit more actually," Ron quickly calculated.

"I just don't want you guys to have kids too young," Richard said. "We never really go to do all we wanted to do before we had Hermione, and it was a lot of work getting our practice started so young."

"I would really like for Hermione to become my wife someday, but I know we both wish to be established in our careers first."

"That's excellent thinking young man. I wish we could have really thought things out like you two have when Emma and I were young. Not that we'd change anything for it now, but we just want to help the two of you make more informed decisions."

"Thank you, Richard. It makes me feel better that you support us," Ron said gratefully.

"Are you being safe?" he asked seriously.

"Yeah," Ron assured him.

"How? I mean I know about our contraception, but do you have something different?"

"Yeah, actually there's a charm that we use," Ron explained. "It's wandless magic and you just put your hand on the girl's stomach and think the incantation."

"How do you know that it worked?" Richard asked.

"It makes your stomach feel warm," Hermione piped in. Secretly she had overheard their conversation and was thoroughly relieved that her father was perfectly fine with his only daughter, as of right now, was having sex with a man that he had only met three times before.

"She's kinda scary how she can do that," Ron said. "She even can do this thing where she could be inside my mind; looking at everything I am thinking about."

"Really?" Richard asked, looking fairly eager to hear more about this.

"Well she hasn't done this to me yet, with the exception of her putting images into my head to make me laugh and such."

"Well, that's certainly interesting," Richard mused.

"AHHH!" Emma screamed as a contraction hit. TheOBcame in and checked her progress.

"Mrs. Granger, you're ten centimeters and ready to push," the doctor informed her. Richard took up his position next to his wife and held her hand as she pushed. The doctor, Dr. Brown, moved Emma into position and began telling her to push.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Okay stop. Deep breaths," Dr. Brown said.

She was squeezing Richard's hand so hard that you heard a loud crack as one of the bones broke and was pushed out of place. "The head is crowning, would you like to see?"

"Sure," Richard said, cradling his now broken hand. He saw the blood, which didn't faze him, but once he saw where the head was positioned he promptly fainted. Being a dentist didn't really help in this kind of situation. Ron's keeper reflexes kicked in and he dove forward to catch Richard before he hit the ground. He carefully laid the man on the ground for the nurses to tend to him now. Ron then did the only thing he could think of doing, he went over to Emma's bedside and held her hand. Ron's hands were large and not easily damaged.

Hermione watched and cheered on her mum, also watching Ron, and how well he was handling this situation. He was amazing; it seemed very natural to him, though he hadn't been there for the birth of his other siblings. You would think that Bill would be more adept to this sort of thing. He coached Emma through the birth of both of the twins.

"Meet Tabitha Michelle and Rachael Rose," Emma said to Richard after he was allowed to be back into the room. He had gotten his hand fixed right away and given some pain medication, but it didn't really help all that much. He had a cast on his hand. Emma was sitting in the bed with a baby in each arm.

"I am so sorry honey," Richard said. "What happened?" He took Tabitha from Emma.

"You fainted Dad," Hermione explained. "Ron caught you. Once the nurses took over for you, he helped mum. Held her hand and everything."

"I have no idea of how I could possibly thank you," Richard said.

"You allowing me to date your daughter is thanks enough," Ron said wisely.

Hermione took Rachael from her mother and began cooing softly to her new-born sister. Emma decided that she would take a quick nap while she was free from the babies for a moment. "How's your hand?" Hermione asked.

"Just fractured," Richard shrugged. "I'm just lucky it's my left hand, I can still run the practice." He tried to shift the baby because of his hand but found it extremely difficult. "Ron, would you mind holding Tabitha real quick?"

"I… Er… I don't really know how," Ron stammered.

"Just look at Hermione, and I'll help, it's just my hand hurts," Richard reassured him.

"Alright then," Ron conceded. Richard moved his arms from around the newborn, allowing Ron to cradle the child in his arms. Compared to Ron, who had grown another inch over the past few months to top out at 6'5", Tabitha looked extremely small. She was already small because she was a twin.

"She's beautiful," Ron murmured. "Awesome birthday present." And he gently kissed the top of the faint blond hair on the baby's head.

They spent several hours at the hospital, visiting and catching up on their lives since Christmas. Hermione looked up at the clock finally and saw that is said6:30. "Uh, Mum, Dad, we have to get back to the school."

"Of course dear," Emma said. "Come by and visit some time."

"I will," she assured her parents. She hugged them goodbye and kissed her new sisters on their foreheads. Ron shook Richards hand, hugged Emma, and kissed the babies as well. They walked hand in hand back to the dentist office. They apparated back to Hogsmeade. They popped into the Hogs Head Inn to tell Aberforth that they were going to walk back up the castle. Hermione had to keep him away from her rooms for twenty minutes. It was a fifteen minute walk back to the castle and she would give him a five minute birthday snog outside the rooms.

"You were absolutely amazing today," Hermione praised.

"It's just everything that my dad taught me," Ron shrugged.

"He would be proud if he were there today," Hermione noted.

"Thank you," Ron said, grabbing her hand.

"What for?"

"For staying with me for all these years, through all of the shite I've put you through," Ron said. "Oh," Hermione said in surprise. She hadn't really thought of it like that before.

"Come on, you deserve a nice long snog for all you've done today," Hermione teased. Ron growled deeply in his throat, and pulled her closer to him, stopping their progress. He kissed her hard, keeping her pressed flush against his chest. She returned the kiss with equal fervor."

"Let's get out of the cold," Hermione suggested, breaking the kiss.

"You want a ride?" Ron asked.

"What?"

"A piggy-back ride," Ron said "I always used to give'em to Ginny when we were growing up."

"Uh, sure," Hermione consented nervously. "You sure you can keep me up for that long?"

"You weight like100 pounds, and I can bench like300 pounds, I think I can carry you up to the castle."

"Fine," she huffed and jumped up on his back. The feel of his back against her chest was amazing, the hardness against the soft. He carried her all the way up the stairs and dropped her just outside the Head Dorm door. Ron pushed her against the wall and began to kiss her with great fervor. She kissed back, but knew she had to get him inside and soon. "Come inside," she managed to pant out between kisses. Ron said the password and walked in, still attached at the lips with Hermione.

"Surprise!" everyone yelled when the door opened. Then they all sniggered when they saw what was going on. The couple broke apart and Ron blushed.

"You said 'get him here by any means necessary'," Hermione reminded them pointedly. They chuckled.

"Er, thanks everyone," Ron said sheepishly. Molly was sniggering while looking down at her feet and shaking her head. All of his brother, with the exception of Percy, were smiling and giving him the thumbs up. Percy just stood there looking appalled at such public displays of affection. People started to mingle again and Ron hugged Hermione. "Thank you so much. Now this is the perfect birthday."

"Keep up this good boy act, and you might get a repeat of Valentines Day," she murmured into his hear as she kissed his cheek.

"I'll try," Ron whispered before patting her bottom and running into his mom. The party lasted well into the night with Ron recounting to his parents about the birth; talking Quidditch with his former teammates; and, well out of earshot of Hermione, he talked about his love life with his brothers.

"So?" Charlie prompted.

"I really don't think we need to discuss our brother's love life," Percy retorted.

"Well, since Penny's not pregnant, maybe we should be discussing yours," Bill said cheerily.

"We're satisfied with out love life," Percy snapped. "Plus she's on birth control potion."

"You know that doesn't work. Damn the Weasley fertility," Bill said smugly. "Fleur was on the Muggle pill, the potion, and we did the charm fairly often."

"Oh shit!" Ron said. "And I told her dad that we were being safe."

"You told her father?" Charlie snorted. "Way to go."

Ron had to explain the events of earlier that day. All of his older brothers, especially Bill, listened win rapt awe about the birth of Hermione's sisters. "So, were you nervous?" Bill asked.

"Yes and no," Ron said. "I mean yeah, because she was giving birth, and she broke her husband's hand, but no because I just had this gut feeling that everything was going to be okay in the end."

"Brilliant," Bill breathed. "You are so talking to Fleur for me about this."

"Fine," Ron huffed. Fleur spoke so fast sometimes that she just spoke straight French. Bill had learned the language so he could communicate with her family when the need arose. Ron had only learned a handful of phrases from Hermione and Fleur herself.

Hermione drug Ron upstairs after the last guest left and threw him down on the bed. "I have to say, you've been a really good boy."

"Really?" Ron asked slyly.

"You want your present now?"

Ron nodded. Hermione flicked her wand and all of her clothes disappeared. She stood there in a red bra and panty set with her skin covered in edible gold paint. Ron decided that this gift needed to last all night long.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 20 Spring Break  
**

Professor McGonagall had agreed early on in the school year that they students would be allowed to have an Easter Holiday, but they decided to make is Spring Break like the Muggles of America had. Chalk it up to the new Muggle Studies teacher who had planted the seed in the Headmistress' head. The students would have a week off to do what they please. It was required that all the teachers assign a one foot long essay on something that was involved in the subject they taught. Hermione, being that she was very persuasive, convinced all their teachers to give them their work early so they could do the essays before they even went out for break. The teachers thought that if the gave out the assignments early they could get them back to grade before they went on their breaks as well.

"So," Hermione addressed their group of eight people. "Anyone have plans for next week?"

"Draco invited me to stay at his house for the week. He said that it would take the entire week to visit the entire house and all the grounds," Susan said offhandedly as she fixed her latest Arithmancy problem.

"My parents really want to meet her, and it works that she's living alone," Draco said.

"Gran and Mr. Lovegood are taking us on a cruise though theMediterranean," Neville said.

"We have two rooms, one for the adults and one for us," Luna said. "They figured that since we're engaged, we could share a room."

"Excellent," Ron said. "Charlie invited Hermione and I to stay at the reserve for like three days. Then were staying at her house for two days, and the final two days at the Burrow."

"You two are certainly busy," Harry said.

"What are you going to be doing then?" Hermione asked.

"Well Ginny and I are going to try to fix up my house in Godric's Hollow," Harry said. "Then we may try to visit my other houses, check out what I really own."

**Draco/Susan**

As soon as all the teens reached Hogsmeade, they apparated to their respective locations. Draco apparated himself and Susan to their location, just outside the barriers of Malfoy Manor. Susan gasped and the vast landscape that sprawled out before her. "This is magnificent," Susan said. She was in complete awe of her surroundings. Draco pulled his broomstick out of his pocket and resized it.

"Here, let's go," he said, straddling the broom, leaving room for her behind him. She hopped on the broom and wrapped her arms around his waist as he kicked off from the ground. Lazily he swooped all over the grounds, showing her all of the Malfoy estate had to offer. She particularly liked the orchard and gardens that graced the southern lawns. Eventually they made their way to the front door where they were greeted by his parents.

"I hope you were kind enough to put a cushioning charm on the broom for the young lady," Narcissa chided gently, smiling brightly.

"There's one built in," Draco muttered as he helped Susan off the broom. "Susan, these are my parents, Narcissa and Lucius. Mother, Father, this is my girlfriend, Susan Bones."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you both," Susan said, beaming up at them. She could clearly see where his facial feature came from: his mothers' nose, prominent cheekbones, and her mouth; his chin and eyes were all his fathers'. They all had the same bleach blond hair, making them have the air of superiority.

"Draco has told us so much about you, Susan," Narcissa greeted warmly. "I'm glad to have finally met you."

"Let's come in the house, lunch has been prepared," Lucius said calmly.

"Alright then," Draco said. He proffered his arm to Susan and she gratefully accepted it; it looked genuine not forced like with Pansy. This simple gesture let his parents know how much Draco actually cared for this young woman. The foyer was huge but the dining room was just massive. A long black table with ivory inlay was located in the middle of the room, laden with delectable looking foods. Draco pulled the chair out for Susan and Lucius did the same with Narcissa. There was a knowing smile shared between mother and son at that moment.

"So, Susan," Narcissa said. "Have you thought about what you would like to do for a job in a few months?"

"Oh, well, I've been leaning toward being either a healer or go into the Magical Law Enforcement like my Auntie," she said. "Professor McGonagall already told me that I have enough qualifications."

"Excellent," Lucius piped in. "Draco will need a healer, he's so clumsy."

"I've noticed," she sniggered. Draco may have appeared to be the epitome of Pureblood aristocracy in the halls of Hogwarts and out in public, but when they were alone, he was dead clumsy. He was always losing his footing and stumbling.

"Ha ha, very funny, let's not make fun of Draco and eat our lunch," he protested, referring to himself in the third person.

"Just a bit of harmless fun," Lucius said lightly.

"It's alright, Draco, I think it's cute," Susan said. "Someone must have set a trip jinx or something."

"You?" he said incredulously. Susan nodded sheepishly. "The sneakers?" She nodded again. "You're gonna get it." He tickled her for a moment or two and she erupted with giggles. Narcissa swelled with happiness at hearing this young couple flirting with each other. Once their tickle fight was over, they finished their lunches, and Draco showed her around the mansion. There were four stories with many oversized rooms on all floors. The last two rooms he showed her were the vast library – he knew that if Hermione saw this, she wouldn't want to leave for months- and his bedroom. She marveled at the enormity. The rug was a crème color while his bedspread and curtains were a deep plum.

"Now this is what I call a bedroom," she said as she ran and jumped on his bed, shrieking with laughter. He cantered after her and lay down on top of her.

"Now this is how I pictured you in my room," he said huskily, his eyes heavy lidded with desire. She immediately sobered up. Her breathing increased slightly.

"I kinda like this view too," she murmured. Draco lowered his head in an effort to kiss her but he saw the mischievous look in her eye a little too late; she torqued her hips and flipped them around so she was on tom. "But I like this view even better."

"I never thought I'd say this, but so do I," Draco replied just before she began to ravish him. He pulled her close to him as she nipped his lower jaw, kissing his neck, and sucked on his earlobe.

"Merlin, witch, do you know what you do to me?" Draco rasped as she started to unbutton his shirt, which, oddly enough, matched his bedspread.

"I have a good idea," she mewled, pressing his one hand to his crotch teasingly.

"Er… sorry," he murmured sheepishly, hoping he didn't freak her out with his reaction.

"Don't worry. It makes me feel good," Susan said. "I've always wanted to be appealing to guys, and now I finally am. It makes me feel kinda sexy."

"Kinda? You've got to be kidding me," Draco said in disbelief. "Would you let me show you how sexy you really are?"

"Umm…" she trailed off.

"You'd have to trust me," he said.

"Alright then," she agreed. "I trust you."

Draco flipped them around so she was lying in the middle of the plum comforter. He kissed her gently, making sure he ran his fingers through her hair and caressing her face. Susan all but melted under him; she had never been this vulnerable before. He rained light kisses on her forehead, eyelids, and cheeks. Trailing southward, he placed open-mouth kisses on her neck, pausing to suck gently on her pulse point.

"Ohh," she moaned, her body was shuddering in anticipation. He fingered the first button of her blouse, almost as if asking for permission to go on. She nodded her head and he undid the button. He laved at the area he exposed with each new button undone. His nose traced a path from her collarbone, down in-between her breasts, and made a beeline for her bellybutton. Susan was very self-conscious because she had lost quite a bit of weight recently and there was still a small roll of fat on her lower stomach. Draco didn't care; his philosophy was if a girl had a bit of extra weight, there were more places for him to put his hands. He nuzzled his nose in her bellybutton.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured as he trailed his finger across her waistband. "You sure I can go on?"

"Yes, please," she mewled, her own fingers fumbling with the buttons on her jeans.

"A a ah," Draco chided, grabbing her hands and pushing them up above her head. Her hips bucked involuntarily. He kissed her chastely before trailing back down to the button on her pants. He opened it with ease and kissed down as he pulled the zipper down. As he drew the jeans down her legs, he trailed open mouth kisses down her left leg first, then back up her right leg. Susan's whole body was not trembling with arousal. He kissed and nuzzled his way up her torso, pausing over each breast and kissing them lightly beneath the soft yellow material of her bra. His long tapered fingers reached and grabbed the bra straps, dragging them down her shoulders. He reached behind her and gracefully unhooked it. She looked at him and he could see the lust within her eyes. He kissed her as he pulled the bra away from her body. Her breath caught as she felt her bare skin up against his cool silk shirt. Susan had no resolve left; she tore open his shirt so the buttons went flying across the room in every direction.

There was a growl emanating from his throat as he kissed her with a new passion. His fingers felt like fire upon her skin, like a flame of lust. She quickly undid his belt buckle and undid the restraints of his jeans, which he shimmied out of fairly quickly. He captured her one breast with his hand while he laved with his mouth on the other. Draco found out that she made the most interesting sounds, and he loved every one of them.

A few moments later they found themselves naked as the day they were born under the cover. "A-are you sure?"

"Yes, I've never been more sure in my life," she moaned as she lifted her hips to meet him. He pushed into her forcefully, filling her completely. She lost her virginity to Ernie last year, so it wasn't like he had to be completely gentle. He wanted her to like this much better than any other time. She arched her body into his, pressing all her flesh into his. They moved together like they had been doing this for years, hips meeting hips, thrust meeting thrust. Draco hadn't really appreciated the built-in silencing charm until now. His parents probably wouldn't be too pleased of their son shagging while they were most likely in the next room.

Susan came to a strange realization, although she didn't know how they found out, but Narcissa and Lucius were very warm and welcoming. They talked to her, in earnest about all things under the sun. They even took them on a trip to theCaribbeanfor the day so they could lie out on the beaches there. Susan felt really comfortable with his family after the week was over, and was shocked when they asked her a very important question.

"Do you have any place where you're living this summer?" Lucius asked.

"Well, I've been staying in my Auntie's house, but I'm probably going to look for a flat or something before school ends," Susan replied. "It's too big and empty just for me."

"Well, we've had a family meeting," Lucius began. Susan looked to Draco. 'Shower,' he mouthed. 'Oh,' she returned. "And we would love for you to move in here, and live for a while."

"Are you serious?" she asked. Lucius was standing near the door, as was Narcissa. He nodded his head and she squealed. Susan jumped out of her chair and ran to hug the Malfoy elders. They looked taken aback by this sudden show of affection. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"You've been such a good influence on Draco, we wouldn't have it any other way," Narcissa praised.

**Luna and Neville**

Neville and Gran packed two suitcases each and were pretty much ready to go to the Lovegood's house within an hour. When they apparated there, Luna still wasn't packed. Neville went right upstairs to help her along a bit. She had t-shirts, jeans, and shorts folded and already in her trunk.

"Can you help?" she asked, looking a bit frazzled.

"Sure, you get your bathing suits and shoes, and I'll get everything else," Neville said before kissing her gently on the lips. Luna walked to her dresser and began picking out her bathing suits. Neville summoned her hair things, hygiene products, and packed them away in one section of her trunk. Once they were all stored away, he pulled open the drawer under her bed, the one which help all her lingerie. He picked out ones that worked with several of the formal outfits that she packed, and some more provocative than others. Luna packed three pairs of shoes and seven bathing suits; now she was ready to go.

"Thank you so much,Nev," Luna gushed and hugger her fiancé. "Let's go, I think Daddy should be ready by now."

"Alright then," Neville said as he shrunk her trunk and put it into his pocket. They walked hand in hand down the spiral stairs from her room, and met the adults having a cup of tea in the kitchen.

"I'm all packed Daddy," Luna announced.

"Wonderful. Now we need to be at the ship in an hour, so we have to drive out to the dock within the next five minutes," Xenophilius calculated.

"Why can't we just apparate?" Luna asked.

"Because Muggles use the docks as well," he explained.

"So who's driving, we don't own a car or have licenses," Luna said, pointing out the obvious.

"I have a car; I got my license a bit ago. Gran wanted to tie us to the Muggles a bit more," Neville said sheepishly.

"And he passed with flying colors,"Augustabeamed.

"That's wonderful, how come didn't you tell me?"

"Well, it was never really important until now," Neville shrugged. "But it takes thirty minutes to get there, so we need to head out now." All the luggage had been shrunk and stored in their pockets; Neville pulled the car out of his pocket and they walked out to the driveway. He resized the car and they all hopped in; Neville and Luna in the front whileAugustaand Xenophilius got the back seat. Neville started the engine and drove down to the dock. Luna was very tense at first because she had never driven in a car before; she had only read about cars during her Muggle Studies class. It took them around thirty-five minutes to get to the dock because of traffic problems. They left the car and headed to Dock 7, and were met by an oddly dressed wizard. Neville had the sense to get everyone to dress in Muggle clothes to depart in; he and Xenophilius in jeans and polo's, while the girls' donned sundresses.

"Welcome aboard Wizard's Cruise Line, please keep your wands safely hidden until we leave the port. May I see your tickets now?" the wizard said in a very droll voice.

"Good morning Basil,"Augustagreeted and handed him the tickets.

"Oh, Mornin' Mrs. Longbottom," he said, looking up at the new crowd. "You're down on the third level, rooms 300 and301."

"Thank you," she aid as the four stepped over the threshold of the expansive boat. They split ways once they arrived at their rooms. Neville opened the door for Luna, and she walked in. there was once large, king-sized bed, a fairly large bathroom. A large shower and garden bath tub and a small living room as well.

"Oh, it's perfect," Luna sighed. Neville walked up and put his hands around her waist from behind and bent down to her ear.

"I say we christen the bed tonight," he murmured.

"Why not now?" Luna asked wantonly.

"Because our guardians expect up for lunch in less than a half hour," he said.

"It won't take that long," she tried.

"What I have in mind will," he said suggestively.

"Oh," she said in surprise. Luna turned and kissed him passionately. After about five minutes, there was a knock on the door.

"Meet us up on the main deck, by the railing, in fifteen minutes for lunch,"Augustasaid promptly though the door.

"Alright Gran," Neville shouted through the door after he tore his lips away from Luna. She sucked playfully at his collarbone. "Quit it, you'll leave a mark."

"Who cares," she said.

"Well, Gran won't let us stay in the same room if she sees that we're 'acting upon our immaturity', or 'doing lewd acts'," Neville said, imitating his grandmother's stern yet shrill voice.

"Fine, but I'm holding you to your promise tonight," she said.

"Alright, let's put out things away and go try to find them," Neville said, walked toward the bedroom and taking the trunks out of his pockets. "Engorgio," Neville muttered, and the trunks magically grew back to their original sizes. They unpacked fairly quickly.

"We only have like five minutes to get up to the deck," Luna announced.

"Come on," Neville said, grabbing her hand. They made their way up to the deck and met the adults for lunch.

The boat had several pools, a gym, a rock wall, a sun deck, a mess hall, several nice restaurants, and much, much more. It took the couple two whole days to find everything. By far, Luna had the most peculiar bathing suits out of everyone on board. Many of them she had made herself. Neville drew several admirers throughout the journey. His brand new physique – the washboard abs, toned arms, and muscular legs – was very appealing to witches of all ages. He helped a little girl who had gotten separated from her parents. She hugged his legs and when he bent down to give her a real hug she kissed him chastely on the cheek.

Three teenage girls watched him get out of the diving well and went to go sit down. Luna was still sleeping, whereas he couldn't sleep past 8 anymore. He went to towel himself off when they confronted him.

"Where are you from?" one asked, clearly fromAmericabecause of her accent.

"England," he said warily.

"I think English accents are so sexy," she said, and her two companions were quick to agree. Luna emerged from the lower decks but was quickly pulled aside by her father and Augusta, who were watching from the shadows.

"Just watch,"Augustasaid.

"Er, thanks," Neville muttered, blushing slightly.

"So what's your name?" the blond asked.

"I'm Neville," he said.

"Well, I'm Claire," the blond announced.

"I'm Annabel," the brunette said.

"I'mTaylor," the red head said.

"May we sit with you?" she said, eyeing him up hungrily.

"Sure, just not here," he said indicating the chair next to him; the one he was saving for Luna.

"Aren't you sweet," Claire replied. "Who's that chair for?"

"My girlfriend," Neville said **(A/N: I know they're engaged but he still says girlfriend, old habits die hard).**

"We'll leave when she comes out," she said, pouting her lips in an apparently sexy manner. Neville wasn't affected, his eyes frantically searching for his quirky fiancé to no on the edge of his chair, and put her hand on his thigh.

"You don't believe us?" she asked.

"You don't think she could be off with someone else, could she?" Annabel asked, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"No, Luna loves me," Neville said adamantly. Luna started to walk over to him, still not really seen. He got up and pushed the girls' hands away from him.

"Ewwe, Luna? What kind of name is that?"Taylorsaid, disgusted.

"I think you should leave," he said. He felt someone come up behind him and immediately knew it was Luna. He spun around and kissed her passionately. All the girls scoffed and walked away. They didn't even think Luna was pretty. Neville kept kissing her long after her knew they were gone. Little did they know that the three girls were planning for one of them to be with him, not Luna. He was a fine catch, too fine of a catch for the likes of her in their eyes.

Once night there was a party for 17-25 years old and it pretty much lasted all night. Luna and Neville decided to go, much toAugusta's displeasure. 'It's like a giant orgy on the dance floor. You'd just be around hooligans.' Xenophilius had agreed with the teens that they should go and experience what teen life was all about.

Neville slipped into his dark blue jeans and a fitted black shirt. Luna wore a silvery, barely covering anything, kind of halter shirt with a low rise black miniskirt. As Luna looked through her bags, she found a very enticing black satin thong that would look amazing later that night. They headed down to the lowest level, just before the engines of the shop. There was reggae music playing, nearly perfect dance music.

Luna drug him over to the middle of the floor and began enticing him with the sway of her hips. Not being able to stand it any more, Neville walked up to her and pulled her flush to his body. He moved his hips in rhythm to the music, moving along with her. Luna normally acted modestly around school but he was glad she wasn't always like that. He was glad she could cut loose and have fun. Many songs passed and the couple moved together so sensuously the girls from the other day nearly got sick.

"Luna," Neville murmured into her ear.

"Mmm?" she asked back.

"I have a plan, so just listen," Neville said. "Those girls from yesterday are watching us, I heard them talking yesterday about hexing you. I'm going to get them to follow mw into that private room back there, disillusion yourself in case I need back up."

"Alright," she said, leaning up to kiss him.

Neville left Luna for a moment while he went to one of the private rooms. As he predicted, all three girls followed him in Luna slipped in after them, unbeknownst to the girls.

"Hey, Neville," Claire all but purred his name.

"Hello, Claire, Annabel,Taylor," he said calmly.

"Where's your girlfriend?"Taylorasked, flipping her hair.

"My fiancé, you mean? She's around," Neville said. It wasn't a lie; he just neglected to say that she was around this room with them.

"What's your last name? Cause we've definitely heard the name Neville once before, it's not a real common name," Annabel said, sitting on his lap.

"Longbottom, now please get up," he said firmly.

"Longbottom!" all three screamed. "So you're the one who helped Harry Potter defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Taylorgrabbed his wand hand and grabbed his pinky. She had read in a Muggle book that you can control anyone by applying negative pressure to it. She gave it a hard yank. Nothing happened. Neville began to chuckle. He bent his pinky back to normal, pulling her hand into his, showing that he wasn't kidding.

"You think that bending my finger will faze me? I've faced Voldemort for Merlin's sake," they inhaled sharply at the mention of the name. "I've been forced to have a hat on top of my head that was determined to burn me alive. I've battles more Death Eaters that you could ever imagine, and I've endured more pain than you could ever know," Neville spat angrily. He flicked his wand out of his left sleeve. His learned to be proficient with both hands in the case that he was incapacitated with his one arm.

"If you ever come near my fiancé or me ever again, you'll not only face me, but I will talk to the Minister of Magic, who is a personal friend of mine, and you'll be locked in Azkaban."

"Y-you are just afraid we'll hurt your fiancé," Claire said, her courage noticeably failing.

"Really?" he snarled, and gold sparks flew out of the end of his wand, burning their clothes slightly.

"Fine, we'll leave you along, with your batty fiancé, such a weak little witch, she's probably a Mudblood!"Taylorspat. Luna made her appearance.

"I'll have you know that I'm not batty, I'm just eccentric," Luna said venomously, her usual dreamy expression and demeanor completely gone. "I'm a Pureblood first off; I'm a successful businesswoman and I still managed to complete two years in one year at school; so I suggest you get your skanky arses away from us, cause I've got a few interesting hexes up my sleeve."

The girls blanched, but Annabel was the first one to recover. "How are you a businesswoman? Aren't you like twelve?" she sneered.

"I'm seventeen thank you very much," Luna scoffed. "And I co-own the Quibbler with my father."

"Oh," said Annabel. She and the other girls read the import magazine religiously.

"Yeah," Luna said. "Now get out." The girls dared not provoke the blond anymore so they left before you could say 'Wingardium Leviosa'.

"Amazing, love," Neville murmured before kissing her.

"I was surprised that they listened, I full on expected them to put up a bigger fight," Luna admitted, twirling her wand between her nimble fingers.

"I'm glad they didn't," Neville said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I would have had to wait longer to do this," Neville said. He picked her up and pinned her to the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist instinctually. Neville wasn't normally daring in their sexual escapades, but tonight he took her right against the wall of the private booth.

If they hadn't looked more like a couple before then, they sure did now. They would always hold hands when they were together and leaving lingering kisses. Augusta and Xenophilius looked on in admiration as their children's romance blossomed.

**Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny**

Ron and Hermione went back to the Burrow to pack a few more things and visit for a few hours before they had to floo to Charlie's inRomania. He had taken three days off to show them around the reserve as well as the country-side; Hermione was looking forward to all the educational opportunities this trip would pose.

"Come on Ron," Hermione said with exasperation. "Honestly, you take longer than a girl to pack."

"Calm down, I'm coming, for Merlin's sake," Ron grumbled as he descended the stairs.

"You two be careful now," Molly warned. "And be sure to tell Charlie to stop in more often, we don't get to see him nearly enough."

"Will do mum," Ron said. He put all his things into Hermione's small beaded bag and got ready to floo out. Hermione went along first.

"Dragon's Keep!" she yelled into the green flames, with a roar of the fire she was gone. Ron followed suit not long after. When he stepped gracefully out of the grate. He saw Charlie helping Hermione up off the floor. "Never graceful with floo powder, this one is," Charlie chuckled. This comment got him a slap from the brunette witch.

"Well excuse me for not doing this a whole lot, I never floo'd more than ten times… ever," she said indignantly. "At least I could pass the apparation test on the first go around."

"Hey," Ron said. "I guess it runs in the family, skipping kids here and there. Bill did fine, so did Percy, the twins, but I think Ginny just barely passed."

"I still beat you all," she said, smiling up at the two Weasley men.

"Alright Miss know-it-all, let's get you two settled in your rooms," Charlie said.

"Rooms?" Hermione asked.

"Mum said two rooms," Charlie explained. "But I don't expect you two are gonna stay there. I'll just tell her that you did, but, quite frankly, I don't care what you do. Just don't let me hear it. Got it?"

"Alright," Hermione said enthusiastically. Ron blushed as red as his hair. "See, I always knew he was the cool brother."

"Sure," Ron agreed, still red in the face.

"Don't tell me you're still embarrassed about that," Charlie goaded Ron. "Look, you're 18, I wouldn't expect any less. I mean you're a little late getting started…"

"What do you mean late? When did you first do it?" Ron demanded, trying to defend his honor.

"I was fifteen," Charlie said proudly, smirking at the couple who seemed dumbstruck.

"Who?" Ron and Hermione chorused.

"Tonks," Charlie said somberly. "We were mad about each other, probably were gonna get hitched if I didn't get offered this job, and she didn't get accepted into the Auror academy. I was happy to hear about her and Remus though. I bet their son is a cute little tyke."

"How come I've never heard about this?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Because Mum still has hard feelings about it. She didn't talk to me for about a year after. I guess since 'Dora died, she doesn't ever want to mention it."

"That really blows; you know, you should come and visit Teddy when Harry baby-sits," Ron suggested. Hermione gave Charlie a hug to cheer him up. "Great, now I lose my girlfriend to my older brother."

"You're devilishly handsome older brother," Charlie added, winking at Hermione.

"Okay, enough serious talk, let's go see some dragons," Hermione said cheerily.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Harry had already explained to Molly what he had planned to do over the break and asked Ginny to come with him. Molly approved, pending that they checked in every other day. They agreed and the first stop on their whirlwind escapade to Harry's estates was Sirius' house inCork,Ireland. They had gotten all the coordinates from Gringotts and had memorized them. Holding hands, they apparated to the foyer entrance. It was a row house, but magically modified to contain thirty rooms. The setup was very much like Grimmauld place. There was a basement kitchen, which looked a bit grimy. Kreacher hadn't really managed to get around to cleaning this house.

"This can be our first project after graduation," Ginny said.

"Don't you want to get a job?" Harry asked. "I mean, we can live off the money I have from the ministry and my inheritance…"

"Look," Ginny said. "I am going to work, I don't think I could 'not work', but I want to do this for you. These houses are yours and I don't want them to go to waste."

"Alright, right after graduation," Harry agreed.

Harry and Ginny walked around the entire house, and Ginny kept notes on what was there and what rooms were there. She also took notes on what they would have to do. They would definitely need to spend nearly a month at this house, just cleaning and refurbishing. Several hours later they were exhausted and quite famished. Harry left Ginny at the house and went to the Leaky Cauldron to order some take out. Ginny cleaned off the kitchen table and chairs in the basement so they could eat on a relatively clean surface.

"Kreacher?" Ginny asked tentatively.

CRACK. "Mistress Weasley called for Kreacher?" the old house-elf croaked and bowed low.

"Please, just Ginny, and I just wanted to go over some summer plans that we had," she said kindly.

"What ever Miss Ginny and Master Harry wishes, Kreacher lives to serve his new masters."

"Well, Harry now owns several houses that haven't been in use since his parents were killed, with the exception of Potter Manor," Ginny said. "We're going to be going through each estate, cleaning and making them livable."

"There's no need for that Miss Ginny," Kreacher said. "I is knowing all the house-elves that Master Harry is owning. I get them and we will clean the houses."

"Are you sure, cause we sure don't mind cleaning," Ginny asked.

"No, he is having ten house-elves bound to him, and Kreacher will gets them working."

"Thank you so much, Kreacher," Ginny gushed. "I would like for you to be in charge of the assignments."

"Thanks go to you Miss Ginny," Kreacher bowed. "We is starting tomorrow on this house, but we will follow you around, making, making sure not to be seen."

"I would be most grateful if you, or any of the other house-elves could not tell Harry what we are up to, and let him have this as a surprise after he graduates."

"Of course Miss Ginny. Master Harry is telling us to listen to what ever you is telling us to."

"You can tell the other house-elves if you'd like," Ginny said. Kreacher bowed and apparated away.

Harry arrived a little while later with their roast chicken meal, two butter beers, and treacle tart for desert. They ate and continued their talks of 'remodeling'. In the front room was a large fire where they slept in a sleeping bag in front of it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

They spent all day wandering all over the reserve with Charlie acting as their guide. He pointed out all the different kinds of dragons. You could see Hermione's mind at work, storing all the information Charlie was telling them, as well as the other trainers.

"This is Vicious," Charlie introduced. He looked to the couple and waited to see any recognition toward this particular dragon. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Is this…?" she breathed.

"Yup," Charlie said proudly.

"Wow," she said. "Would someone care to fill me in on this little inside joke?" Ron huffed.

"You remember the tri-wizard tournament right? Well this is the dragon that Harry went up against," Charlie explained.

"Bloody hell," he breathed.

"Yeah, we re-named him Tom," Charlie said.

"Very fitting," Hermione agreed.

"You ain't kidding," Ron chuckled**. (A/N: for people who don't make the connection, Harry defeated the dragon and everyone in ****Romania**** thought he'd defeat Tom Riddle as well. I know this dragon is supposed to be a nesting mother but for the sake of my story it is going to be a male). **

"He's calmed down in his old age, actually got him to breed him with one of the other dragons you two are familiar with," he said.

"Norberta?" they cried simultaneously.

"I can't wait to tell Hagrid," Ron mused. "He can be a loving grand-pa. I'll expect he wants to send gifts or something mad like that."

"Could we at least send a picture of mum and baby for him?" Hermione asked.

"I'll speak with our journalist and see if he's up to taking a few pictures for us."

"Wonderful!" she cried, hugging Charlie.

"Speaking of journalists," Charlie said. "I heard old Rita got the boot, and a certain bushy haired member of the golden trio was responsible for it."

"Well, she's been nothing but a nuisance to us since the first time we've met her," Hermione explained. "She actually had your mum convinced that I was in love with Harry and cheating him in with Krum."

"I read that article," Charlie said. "A crock of shite if I've ever heard one."

"That's what I said," Hermione said.

"She was gonna do an article a few months ago on the most eligible bachelors inEurope; apparently I'm number three."

"Who's ahead of you?" Ron asked.

"Some French dude is number one and Viktor Krum is second," Charlie said.

"Ruddy pumpkin head," Ron and Hermione muttered together.

"Alright, you two are starting to act like mum and dad; saying the same things at the same time," Charlie muttered, running his fingers through his hair. "Ever hear from the 'ruddy pumpkin head'?"

"He teaches with Bill," Hermione reminded him.

"Oh, right, how's that going?"

"Well, he kept wanting to be more than friends, but Ron pretty much told him to back off," Hermione said, briefly closing her eyes to reminisce about that Halloween night before continuing. "Now he pretty much leaves us alone."

"What did you say to him Ron?" Charlie asked.

"I didn't have to say much, I mean, he's even shorter than you," Ron said. Charlie was 5'11", same as Bill, and one of the shorter Weasleys. "I just stood in front of him and looked down."

"I always knew you would fill into your height or at least, I hoped you wouldn't be the lanky klutz forever."

"Thanks Charlie," Ron snorted. "For a moment I thought you'd be as bad as George and Lee, always trying to trip me and what not."

"You have filled out a bit though," Charlie commented. "Has Hermione been working you out or what?"

"Very funny," she scoffed. "Harry made up work out routines for the whole team, five different ones I think. And he got the Room of Requirement to provide all the necessary equipment."

"Wicked, no one was like that while I played, and I never even thought about it when I was captain."

"Well…" Ron explained Harry's strategy. He told Charlie about the programs that Harry had instituted. "I mean no other team stands a chance against us this season. We're undefeated."

"Excellent, now lets go talk to the journalist."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Harry," Ginny murmured into his chest. They had fallen sleep talking in front of the fire.

"Mmm?" he grumbled, pulling her closer to his broad chest.

"It's time to get up," she said, trying to get up out of the sleeping bag.

"No, back to bed," he mumbled.

"If we don't get up, you'll have to suffer my cooking," she teased. His eyes opened wide.

"I'll get up," he said. He loved Ginny with all his heart, but she couldn't cook for shite. He made his way first to the bathroom, then to the kitchen. He found no food and realized that it was only the ploy Ginny had used to get more room in the sleeping bag for herself.

"Ginny, we're going to the Leaky Cauldron for breakfast," Harry called.

"Alright then," she yelled back, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"I can't believe I fell for that," Harry chided himself as he walked back into the front room. They walked to the fireplace and floo'd in for breakfast. Harry had also put in an order for dinner. They would be flooing to the Potter's house inScotlandfor the day.

"PotterHouse,Scotland," Harry yelled as he stepped into the grate. Ginny followed suit a few moments later. She looked up in awe at the three-story house. Everything about this house screamed Celtic tradition. There was green paraphernalia all over the house and grounds.

"Wicked," Ginny murmured. She began to explore the house. She stopped in all the rooms as Harry checked out the grounds. Eventually she stumbled upon what seemed to be his parents' room. There were pictures of them together, and all their friends. Ginny all but ran down the stairs, hell bent on searching the grounds until she found him, but her search was cut short.

"Oof!" she cried as she plowed into Harry headfirst. They both fell to the floor in a heap.

"I'm happy to see you as well," Harry chuckled, brushing himself off.

"I'm so sorry," she said, accepting his hand as he helped her off the floor.

"What's so important you had to jump on me to tell me?" Harry teased as he brushed the dirt off her shirt.

"I found your parents' room," she said quietly.

"Show me," he said. Ginny turned around and walked through the long hallway, back to the staircase she had just bolted down from. They hurried up to the top story of the building. Harry entered the room Ginny indicated and was taken aback. He saw all these pictures that he had never seen before; ones from their wedding, Lily dancing with Remus, Sirius, and even Peter. There were pictures of the various stages of Lily's pregnancy with Harry. One picture that had really captured his attention was one with a pregnant Lily, baby Ron, the twins, Percy, Charlie, Bill, Molly, and Arthur. They had become good friend through the order, but they all lost touch when Harry was carted off to the Dursley's.

"Wow," Harry breathed.

"I know," Ginny confirmed. "You want to sleep in here tonight?"

"Yeah, I actually do," Harry said, turning toward his girlfriend. He gathered her up in his arms and gave her one of the smoothest, most passionate kisses ever. When the broke apart, Harry leaned his forehead against hers.

"What was that for?" she panted, still out of breath from the kiss.

"Because I love you," he murmured.

They spend the rest of the day writing up a list of what they would want to do after graduation. There were over fifty rooms in this house, including an indoor pool like Neville's, an outdoor Quidditch pitch, and several large empty rooms. Harry picked up the food from the Leaky Cauldron and they ate up in his parents' room.

Once they were done eating, Harry turned to his redheaded queen, kissing her gently. "I want to make love to you, here, in this bed, tonight," he murmured.

"I love you," she said huskily. Harry made slow passionate love to her, in their new bed, officially christening their new house.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

'Dear Hagrid,

You know how you let Charlie have Norberta, aka Norbert? Well she is flourishing beautifully. So much so that she mated with the same dragon Harry went up against in the Tri-wizard tournament. We have included pictures of mum, dad, and baby for you. Hoping you are well, and your spring break is going well.

Love,

Hermione, Ron, and Charlie.'

Hermione sent the letter in an hour or two after getting the pictures back. Hermione and Ron headed back to the house and met Charlie. "Hey, gang, we're having a guest for dinner," Charlie said.

"Who, your new girlfriend?" Ron joked.

"Actually yeah," Charlie said.

"Ooohh," Hermione squealed. "What's her name?"

"Samantha Coi," Charlie said. "She's two years older than you guys, but she's from America, Salem Institute for Witches."

"Where did you meet her then?"

"She is a lawyer who also is here on vacation. I met her when she returned last year for an accident case where some idiot trainer was trying to get more than he was due," Charlie muttered. "I've only asked her to be with me a few months ago. Now I want her to gradually start meeting the family. I thought since you two'd be here, you'd go first."

"Awesome," Ron said. "Now I've got one up on Bill."

"I know, just don't boast too much. I'm sure he'll understand, once I explain the timing and circumstances," Charlie reasoned.

*Ding Dong*

"That must be her, I'll get it," Charlie said as he ran to the front door.

"Someone looks like a kid in a candy store," Ron chuckled.

"It's kinda cute," Hermione said, resting her back against his chest. Ron put his arms comfortingly around her. Charlie brought Samantha back into the living room where Ron and Hermione were.

"Sam, this is my youngest brother, Ron, and his girlfriend, Hermione. Guys, this is Samantha," Charlie introduced.

"It's wonderful to start meeting Charlie's family," Sam said politely.

"We've heard nothing but good things about you," Hermione said, embracing the woman. Sam was a few inches taller than Hermione, but still a few inches shorter than Charlie. Her skin was tanned, as if she constantly worked outside in the sun. Her hair was so dark brown that is almost looked black; and it fell down to her shoulder blades. Hermione envied how it seemed naturally poker straight. Here eyes were green, not piercing green like Harry's, but a shade of turquoise.

"Hermione, now that's a name that you don't hear often," Sam said curiously. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Hermione whom I have read about in the Daily Prophet?"

"I am actually," she said, not knowing how much Charlie had told her about what had been going on around here.

"I just wanted to thank you," she said.

"Why?"

"Because you got rid of that skank Rita Skeeter."

"You knew about that cow?" Hermione asked.

"She tried to bitch me out about being the only girl going onto the dragon reserve when I was working a case out here last year," Sam said. "Apparently I'm a slut who was gonna sleep with all of the other trainers."

"Oh wow, I'm glad to get rid of her as well. I should have done it a long time ago," Hermione regaled.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, her curiosity peaked.

"While you tell this story, Ron and I will get dinner ready," Charlie said, dragging Ron away by his upper arm.

"Well, I found out that she was an unregistered animagus in my fourth year," Hermione explained, motioning for Sam to join her on the couch. "I just threatened her at first. But when we all gave the final interview at the Daily Profit, the minister, who is our good friend, helped us get her out."

"Brilliant," Sam said. "So what of Harry? Is he nice or arrogant like the papers say?"

"He's so modest, it's almost sickening," Hermione said.

"I bet he's got girls all over him," Sam commented.

"He would, if they weren't afraid of his girlfriend's famous bat-bogey hex," Hermione chuckled. "She's Ron and Charlie's little sister."

"Oh wow," she breathed. "Lucky girl, he sure is handsome."

"I guess," Hermione said indifferently. "He's just my prat of a 'brother'. Now you on the other hand, you've got yourself quite a looker."

"What can I say, I'm just good like that," she joked.

"All the Weasley men are gorgeous; just good genes I guess," Hermione said.

"How many are there?"

"Well, there's Bill, he's the oldest and married with a child on the way," Hermione began counting them on her fingers. "Then Charlie's next. Percy was married recently to his Hogwarts sweetheart, and he's the third oldest. Fred, one of the twins, was killed in the final battle. His brother George, the second twin, is the co-creator of Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, and he's seriously dating someone. Then there's Ron, who's mine, and Ginny, who's with Harry."

"WWW? That was one of the most brilliant shops that I've ever had to inspect. They wanted to have a shop in wizardingSalem."

"So you've met George then?"

"Yeah, but they confused the hell out of me," Sam said chuckling. "Called themselves Gred and Forge."

"Classic," Hermione said lightly.

"Dinner is served!" Charlie announced. They all headed to the dining room to get something to eat.

"This looks delicious," Sam said as she sat down in the chair Charlie was holding out for her.

"Thanks, I order from them all the time," He grinned cheekily. Dinner went over well, and the couple really liked Sam. She seemed tough enough to keep up with his rugged lifestyle. Sam stayed in the second guest room, where Hermione was technically supposed to sleep. Hermione already decided to go visit the country to let Charlie have time to himself and Sam. He had written down a bunch of coordinates they should visit around the country.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Harry and Ginny floo'd to the Burrow that next morning and ate breakfast there. "So, how are the houses going?" Molly asked.

"We're off to Potter Manor for two days," Harry said, munching on a bit of bacon. George floo'd in.

"Morning mum, Harry, Ginny," he said cheerily.

"Morning dear, tuck in," Molly said in greetings to her son. "What are you up to today?"

"Well I have off, do I don't know, probably hang with Alicia," George said as his mum piled food onto his plate.

"Why don't you come over to Potter Manor for dinner, bring Alicia," Harry suggested. "It'll only be Ginny and I."

"I'll run the idea by her and send an owl bynoonor so," George said before he plowed into his meal. Harry and Ginny floo'd to Potter Manor. Once they stumbled out of the grate, they were greeted by no less than six house-elves.

"Master Potter, you is finally come home," they squealed.

"Please, just call me Harry," he said, and they nodded in agreement. "And this is Ginny. Now what may we call you?"

"We is Fretch, Maddy, County,Moore, Splunker, and Snapple," the only girl, Maddy, introduced.

"Welcome home Mister Harry and Miss Ginny," Fretch said.

"Is you having any plans for today, Mister Harry?" squeaked Maddy.

"Well, we may be having some friend over for dinner, so if we could have dinner for four around seven?" Harry asked, feeling awkward around these new house-elves. "Other than that I would just like to tour the house and grounds."

"I is going to show yous around while they is preparing the dinner," Maddy said.

"Thank you," Harry said sincerely.

"There is no need to be thanking us. We likes working for the Potter's, they was always kind to us," Maddy said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"They was," the rest of the house-elves were quick to agree.

"Lets us go and tours the house, it will takes a while," Maddy informed them. All three began their trek through the house, finding that there were around three hundred rooms. Harry made a mental note to visit certain rooms again tomorrow: the library, his parents' room, James and Lily's garden, the trophy room, his playroom, and his old bedroom.

It took them until five to finish touring the inside of the house. They received an owl from George saying that he and Alicia would be there; just wanting to know what time they should arrive. Harry sent a note back with the time and told them to dress casually. Maddy took them out to the grounds before dinner and Harry found an old tree fort that his father and Sirius had built one summer when Sirius had run away from home. This was added to the places that he really wanted to revisit.

Seven seemed to roll around really fast and they just made it back into the living room just in time to meet George and Alicia when they floo'd in.

"Hey, glad you could make it!" Harry boomed.

"Well it was this or take away," George shrugged.

"I thought we'd come visit since we never get to see you two anymore," Alicia said, hugging Harry, then Ginny. George shook hands with Harry before picking his sister up and swinging her madly around.

"Dinner is ready Mister Harry,"Mooreannounced.

"Blimey Harry, you've got a house-elf?" George asked incredulously.

"Well, I've got ten all together I think, plus Kreacher, but only six of them work for the Potters, the rest go with Sirius' household," Harry calculated quickly.

"Rich bastard," George joked.

"Look who's talking…" Harry trailed off. "It's not like I asked for this. I'll probably get one to move in with your mum, so she can get a break from doing all those chores, and the gnomes won't give her much more trouble."

"They still talk?"

"Yeah, all the curse words you and Fred taught them," Harry smiled.

"Well let's go eat before the food gets cold," Ginny said. The others were quick to agree and followedMooreinto the nearest dining hall. The house-elves made a barbeque feast: ribs, hamburgers, corn on the cob and chicken.

"Wicked!" Harry and George chorused at the sight of the food.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione drug Ron all overRomania, seeing the sights and visiting historical land marks and such. By the time they returned to Charlie's house, it was well past dark. Ron pushed her roughly against the door once they shut it, kissing her hard. Hermione pulled him closer and wrapped one leg against his hip. He gripped the back of her thigh and hauled her up against him, having her wrap both legs around his waist. He began to carry them up to their room. He pushed her down on the bed and quickly covered her body with his. She whipped her wand out and put up a silencing and locking charm. Another flick of her wand and they were as naked as the day they were born.

"Damn," Rom muttered near her ear as he nipped her earlobe.

"Oh, Ron, fuck me already," she pleaded. Ron loved it when she swore. He found it so sexy because she would only really swear during sex.

"No need to tell me twice," he said as he cast the contraception charm. He thrust into her and groaned gruffly. They moved together hard and fast, with practiced ease. Once they found their release and lay there in the peace and quiet, they heard something.

"Oh, Charlie! Oh harder!" they heard Sam yelling.

"Oh damn," Hermione said, chuckling lightly.

"And he yells at us for not forget the charm," Ron laughed as Hermione snuggled up against him.

"He's probably not used to having people in his house," Hermione reasoned.

"I guess you're right," Ron conceded. They started to hear the headboard hit against the wall. "Any chance you can do the reverse silencing spell?"

"Sure," Hermione said, grabbing her wand from the bedside table. She did a complicated wand movement and all the banging stopped. Ron got his wand and conjured a radio, and their Dashboard Confessional CD's. Ron put the songs on mix and they sank into blissful post-sex sleep.

Several times during the night they woke up and made love to the songs of their favorite band. Hermione's silencing charms held until morning rolled around. Ron got up and went down to make breakfast. Hermione followed a few minutes later. He made enough eggs and toast for four people, keeping two plates warm for Charlie and Sam.

"Morning you two," Charlie said, wearing only blue pajama bottoms.

"Morning, surprise you'd be up," Ron smirked. "Figured you two would stay in bed till likenoonor something."

"How'd, – "Charlie said. " Damn, I forgot the charm didn't I? It's bad enough that I warn you two and I'm the one to forget."

"Yup," Ron said smugly.

"Funnily enough, we remembered," Hermione said.

"Forgot what?" Sam said, emerging from the doorway, wearing only Charlie's old Quidditch uniform shirt.

"Silencing Charm, love," he murmured.

"Oh," she blushed a fierce crimson color.

"Don't worry, Mione knows the reverse silencing spell, so we didn't have to hear too much," Ron assured her.

"That's good," she said.

"Now sit and have some breakfast that Ron made," Hermione said, offering two plates.

"Awesome, I'm starved," Charlie said. "Someone kept me up half the night."

"I don't think you objected," Sam retorted.

"Why is it that guys always blame the girls after sex?" Hermione asked Sam.

"Because you witches recover faster and are bloody insatiable," Charlie said.

"I agree," Ron said before taking a bit of his eggs.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Harry and Ginny had a wonderful time with George and Alicia, and they talked well into the night. The whole next day they explored the rooms Harry wanted to last night. They found the books where the Potter family history had been recorded. Harry read the sections about his parents finally getting together and when he was born. Ginny, however, read all about his screwed up childhood. She read about all the horrible things his relatives had done to him over the years. By the end of their time in the library, she had read all she could; tears were streaming down her face.

"What's wrong, love?" Harry asked when he heard her sniffling. She shook her head and launched herself at him. Ginny straddled him and kissed him fiercely. They ended up making love right there in the stacks of his library.

They stayed at Potter Manor that night and left for the house in Godric's Hollow. Harry apparated them to right outside the kissing gate, where he and Hermione had that fateful night on their journey. He wanted to see his parents and wanted them to 'meet' Ginny. He sat there and talked to them a while, telling them all about his life. After about a half hour, Ginny and Harry made their way to the Potter Cottage.

They spent the better part of an hour reading all the graffiti sayings all over the outside of the house. There were only good ones written there. After a while Harry walked up to the front door and put his hand on the door. The goblins had told him that for the door to open he had to let the house recognize the magical signature of the Potter name.

"Oh," Harry gasped as he saw the living room. Apparently Dumbledore had sealed the house so it could not be ruined by either the weather or time. Everything was still the same as that fateful night over seventeen years ago.

They spent the next three days fixing up the house, repairing the roof, creating a brand new home. They also went through everything. Harry shed more tears in that three-day period than he had in a very long time. They made a decision to live in this house after graduation, for their main residence. They would still be working on the other houses periodically. Their final night of vacation they slept at the Burrow, telling everyone what they had been doing.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Ron and Hermione left Charlie and Sam to go to her parents' house. The girls were in Ron's old room, so this posed their first problem. "Well, I trust that you two can bunk together," Richard said.

"We'll be good, I promise," Ron said.

The babies were rather well behaved. Not up a whole lot during the night, just a feeding once a night. Ron was amazing with little children. 'He's gonna be a wonderful father someday,' Hermione thought. Ron would play with them, and when they got tired out, Tabitha would sleep on his chest, and Rachael would sleep with her big sister. Emma and Richard were glad to catch up with the couple, seeing that they were becoming even closer. Their final two days were spent at the Burrow, and they were just glad to be home.

**A/N: So here we go. I know Draco is way AU in this character, but I thought it would be amusing. I also know that wizards, especially the Malfoy's, would wear sneakers, but I like it that way. Neville is a BAMF, so that's why I make him sound so yummy in this story = P And Luna is not as dreamy sounding in this chapter, because that gets old. she need to have actual emotions, and I like the sound of her getting pissed. If you would like to read more about Charlie and Sam, i have a one shot called So how'd they meet = ). And i don't condone minors having sex... I.E. Charlie and tonks at 15, but you know Charlie, looking that good, he was getting some early on in life. I hope you enjoyed = )**


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 21: Lavender's Chaos**

Once everyone had come back from spring break, the hot gossip was what each person did over their vacations. The first night back, there was a small party for all eight teens, where they really said what they did on their breaks. It seemed as if everyone thoroughly enjoyed their time off from school. Hermione had gotten word from McGonagall that this was an upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. She promised that she would go with Ron, but she needed to pick up a few things for Professor McGonagall. They were all just going to meet up at the Hogs Head Inn for a few drinks after their shopping was all taken care of.

Ron went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to get some broom polish with Harry. They weren't there for long and they were making their way back to the Hogs Head when they ran into yet another familiar face; Lavender Brown. "Hey Harry, Ron," she greeted them. "Can I speak with you for a moment Ron, alone?"

"Er, sure," Ron said. "I'll meet you in a few moments Harry."

"Alright, I'll let Mione know," Harry said.

"So, Lav, what's up? How've you been?" Ron asked.

"Okay I guess," she said. "How've you been?"

"Well, fine I guess, rough being back at school after spring break."

"Oh, well…" she trailed off. Lavender launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth. Ron pushed her away just after he heard a crack in the background.

"What the bloody hell did you that for?" Ron yelled angrily, wiping his lips off, as if to get all the Lavender 'essence' off his face.

"I don't care if you're with HER," Lavender said seductively. "I still want you."

"Well, I'm with Mione," Ron declared, backing further away from the blond witch.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," she said slyly, rubbing her hands all over his chest. Ron grabbed her hands and forced them back to her.

"I don't want you," he said carefully.

"What do you love that fucking bookworm or something?" she screeched.

"Yes I do love her, so much it hurts even," Ron said loudly. "She's not a bookworm; she's smart; which is more than I can say about you. She loves me, I know that. I couldn't stand being with anyone but her."

"Fine, go off and marry the fuckin' Mudblood, why don't you?" she screamed before slapping him and walking away.

"Maybe I will," Ron said to no one in particular. He turned and went into the bar. "Where's Mione?"

"She went out to find you mate," Harry said.

"Shite!" Ron yelled. The cracking sound that he had heard earlier was Hermione disapparating. "I've got to go, I'll explain later."

Ron ran out of the pub and all the way back up to the castle, up to the Head's dormitory. He went to Hermione's door and saw a box. He knocked on the door. "Mione, are you in here?"

"Go away! I never want to see you again. Get your stuff and leave me alone!" she yelled through the door.

Ron looked down at the box and opened it. He saw all his clothes, even the ones that she had been wearing. "Mione, please, come out I need to talk to you!" he pleaded.

"Go to hell!"

Ron sighed, but got a brilliant idea. He ran up to Professor McGonagall's office. "Professor, I need your help, please, I'm desperate," he said as he entered her office.

"With what, may I ask?"

"Well, Hermione is mad at me because of something that happened earlier in Hogsmeade. Now I want to show her a memory of the event. Is there any way you can teach me how to do that?"

"Explain what happened and I'll try," Professor McGonagall said. Ron delved into what had just transpired down in the village. By the end of his speech, Professor McGonagall had agreed to show him how to extract the memories that he wanted.

"I'll even seal the bottle for you," she said warmly. "Now put your wand at your temple."

Ron did as he was told, not wanting to screw up this last opportunity to get Hermione back. "Now concentrate on the memory, and I mean the whole memory. Let it fill you up."

Ron nodded as he allowed the memory to full his entire 6'5", 240-pound frame. "Now pull your wand away slowly, and feel the memory leaving your body."

When Ron opened his eyes again, there was a silvery substance wafting from the top of his wand. Professor McGonagall gave Ron Dumbledore's old pensieve to store the memory in.

"Thank you so much," Ron said, gratefulness dripping from his voice.

"It's not a problem," she said truthfully. "I'll have Miss Weasley ask her to meet me here later tonight, around eight. I'll have her look at all of this. Now I want you to extract the memory of all this, the time you've spent here in my office."

"Alright then," Ron said, repeating the process of extracting this particular memory. When he was finished he looked up at the elder witch.

"I would like to have four power couples in this school, more than just three when the day is through," she said.

"I will do what ever it takes to get her back. She's the light and love of my life," Ron admitted.

"Spoken with maturity well beyond your years," she observed. "So why would Miss Brown do all this?"

"I mean, we dated for a while two years ago, and it didn't end well," Ron began. "Hermione was really the reason for us breaking up in the first place. I was always with Mione, and always trying to avoid Lavender. But today she was just going on about 'what she doesn't know won't hurt her'."

"Though I understand why she had been sorted into my house, she's not afraid to say anything to anyone, but I've never really cared for the girl. Her incessant chatter would haunt me in my sleep. It seems as though she hasn't changed very much," Professor McGonagall said bitterly.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way," Ron said with relief.

"Alright Mister Weasley, you go and stay in your dormitory and wait, I'm sure that she'll change her mind," Professor McGonagall said reassuringly.

"Again, I can't thank you enough," Ron said. He left the large office and went back to the Head Dormitory. He picked up the box, which Hermione had still outside her door. He transported all of his things to his own dorm room. He drew the curtains around his four-poster bed and just lay there, thinking about everything that happened. Groaning, he rolled over to his bedside table and pulled out his journal. His mum had suggested that he keep one so he could keep his anger in check. Ron followed Molly's advice for once in his life and wrote in his book every time he got angry. It had been an entire month since he had written in it last; it seemed as though he had gotten his anger under control.

Ron wrote all about what had transpired that day and how it felt to have Hermione mad at him. When he heard voices coming up the stairs he cast a privacy charm around his bed, allowing only Hermione to get through. Harry tried to get through but it didn't let him enter.

"Come on mate, it's not that bad, it'll all blow over in a few days," Harry said.

Ron continued to write, getting all his frustrations over that situation, anger at Lavender, and sadness about Hermione, out on the page. He knew that if anyone read this book that they would think he was so self conscious and very insecure. Most people just through he had gotten over these problems, no, he had just gotten better at hiding them. Hermione had seen glances here and there but she hadn't even seen the full deal, but he decided to show her the book when, or more likely if, she came back to join him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione sat on her bed, holding her pillow, crying steadily since she had seen those two kissing in Hogsmeade. She had run back to her room, and threw all of Ron's things into the box and put it outside her room. "Mione are you in here?" she heard the bastard say.

"Go to hell!" she screamed. Honestly she wanted him to feel sorry for what he had done to her, but then again, she really wanted to beat him to a pulp. "Get your stuff and leave me alone!"

She heard him leave, and it broke her heart even more. She half expected him to break the door down to get to her; he even knew the password, so he could have waltzed right in. he gave up on her without a fight. After a few hours of crying she heard her door open and someone come in. "Go away, Ron. I don't want to hear it!"

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not Ron," Harry chuckled.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry," she sniffled. "You should go. I don't want anyone to see me like this."

Harry didn't leave; instead he sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. She turned into him and cried again, her sobs renewed. "That's it Mione, let it all out," Harry cooed. "Just cry, it's gonna be all right."

"Why did I have to fall so hard?" she wailed, clinging to his shirt like she would die without holding on.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for all of this," Harry soothed. Hermione only wailed harder. Harry just did all he could do, which was what she was prone to doing to him when he was an emotional wreck; he held her while she cried. He even took to kissing the top of her head after a while.

Ginny came in a bit later, looking frazzled. "Mione! Professor McGonagall needs you in her office immediately! Take the fireplace!" she yelled.

"What!" she cried. She was quickly returning from crying wimp to Head Girl. "Thank you, Harry; for everything."

"No problem," Harry said. "Now go."

Hermione raised her wand and fixed her appearance slightly; taming her hair into a low pony tail, and clearing her face of tear stains. She went over to the fireplace and went to the Headmistress' office.

"Professor McGonagall! Are you here? What's wrong?" Hermione yelled as she stumbled out of the grate. She looked wildly around and found no one there. She did however see the pensieve sitting on the desk with a note attached to it.

'Hermione,

I know you're probably pissed beyond belief at me, but you have to believe me, nothing happened. I love you more that life itself and I would never to anything to hurt you. So please, look into the pensieve. There are two memories and just think. I hope after viewing these, you'll be able to forgive me.

Love always,

Ronald Bilius Weasley'

Hermione looked at the pensieve warily, but eventually decided that she actually trusted Ron with her life, even now. After taking a deep breath, she plunged head first into the pensieve, falling into Hogsmeade. She played the voyeuristic role in this memory and watched Harry leave. Lavender kissed Ron and she saw herself disappear. The whole scene played out before her until the very end. She heard them say_: 'Fine, go off and marry the fuckin' Mudblood, why don't you?' Lavender screamed before slapping him and walking off. _

_'Maybe I will,' Ron said. _

This statement brought tears to her eyes. Ron had defended her and said that they may get married one day. The memory faded out and a new one replaced it. This was the one from Professor McGonagall's office. She watched Ron desperately seeking any way to convey how sorry he felt.

Slowly she exited the memories, trying to wrap her head around this. Professor McGonagall was there and she waited to go around when Hermione was ready to speak. "Did you help him do all this?"

"Yes I did," she replied to the young witch.

"Why?"

"He pleaded with me. I saw sincerity in his eyes," the professor said. "And even before you ask, I've sealed these memories, so he hasn't tampered with them at all."

"I can see," she said. "Where is he?"

"In his dorm room I suppose," the elder witch said.

"Thank you so much," Hermione said, hugging her mentor.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hermione climbed the stairs to the boys' dorm and walked in. Dean was reading on his bed and he just looked up at her. "Don't be too hard on him; he was really upset about everything that's happened."

"I've seen the memories," Hermione said, and it seemed explained everything. Hermione walked over and poked her head in the curtains. "Ron are you awake?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled and rolled over. "Mione?" She didn't say anything but she kissed him. He was hesitant in returning the kiss; but when she didn't pull away, he kissed back. She climbed on the bed and straddled him.

"Don't hold back, love. Drive these bad feelings out of me," she pleaded. He had been nothing but gentle with her but now she was begging for something rough. "Please."

That was all the incentive that he needed. Soon their positions were reversed, their clothes were vanished, and the silencing charm was put into effect. Hermione brushed her hand over her stomach, casting the contraception charm herself. They moved fast together and hard, and Hermione felt like she was being ripped in half. No words were exchanged by their scream, which could have been heard through the entire castle were it not for the charms.

Once they came down from their sexual high, Hermione was the first one to speak. "I'm sorry."

"No I'm sorry," Ron said.

"Lets' just talk about it in the morning," Hermione suggested.

"Alright then, love," Ron murmured as sleep took him over. He would show her the book in the morning and everything would go back to being normal.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 22 Ginny's in Trouble**

Hermione and Ron had finally returned to normal about a week later and it seemed that everything was how it was supposed to be. It was early into May when new drama reared its ugly head. Ginny was walking out of the dungeons from her potions class; she had accompanied the group who was checking on one of their potions after lunch. Her bag split and everything landed all over the hallway.

"Here, I'll help," Harry said, bending down to help her.

"No, go, you have another class, and you can't be late. Mum'll have your head," Ginny said.

"If you're sure," Harry said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll see you all in class a bit later," she called after the rest of the group down the hallway. Harry and everyone left her cleaning up everything that had scattered in the hallway. She had finally gathered it all up a few moments later and went to go repair her bag when she noticed something that was off. Her bag had a clean rip, not jagged, as she would have expected from a random bag split. Ginny immediately sent an invisible patronus with a message for Harry and the rest of the gang.

"I think I'll just take you where you're precious Potter can't find you," a deep voice said from behind her. Ginny turned around and her wand was ripped from her hand. The last think she remembered was falling to the ground and a large tan hand coming toward her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ginny's patronus made its visible appearance when it pranced its way into Harry's transfiguration class, and quickly made its way over to him. "I'm in the dungeon hallway. Get the Map. Something's not right."

Harry immediately looked up at Molly, whose class he was in at the moment. "Molly, did you hear that message?"

"Yes," she said nervously. "Go, all of you."

All of then got up to go, leaving everything but their wands and ran to the Head's dormitory. Harry summoned the Marauders map from Hermione's bedroom where they had stored it in the beginning of the year. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Harry said urgently.

Once the map appeared in its entirety, Harry immediately sought out the dungeons. He found the dot labeled Ginny in Dungeon 10, the one the farthest reaches of the school. Harry was surprised to see a person, whose dot was standing very closely to his girlfriend: Michael Corner. "That bastard," Harry growled.

"Who is it mate?" Ron asked, anxious to know who had his baby sister.

"Corner," he growled.

"That little Ravenclaw bastard," Draco said. "Corner tried to punch me the other day outside of History of Magic, for no apparent reason."

"Alright," Harry said, going into attack mode. "Mione, you can do wand detection right?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"How far?"

"About two floors," she said determinedly.

"Lets go down to the Entrance Hall and Hermione can go from there," Harry said, and they made their way out of the common room and down the many halls to their destination. "Ron, can we send your patronus to your mum, tell her to warn Professor McGonagall about this, so we can get him detained as soon as possible?"

"Alright," Ron said before casting his patronus and sending it off with a message. They waited when they reached the entrance hall, while Hermione checked the lower levels for wards.

"For a Ravenclaw Corner is rather stupid," Hermione scoffed. "He put up the simplest wards and he had like three people stations along the halls under the imperious curse."

"That sounds like he thought about it," Draco commented.

"Well those are guys on the Quidditch teams and they've fought off the curse," Hermione smiled slyly.

"Brilliant, lets go then," Ron said. All four teens were down in the dungeons before they knew it. All the men who had been stationed in the hallway came out of their hiding spots. The four teens had their wands out ahead of them in a very threatening manner.

"Wait! Wait, listen!" the first guy said, Harry immediately recognized who they were: Breckin Lewis, Jeremy Zaire, and George Dallas. "We don't mean any harm. Michael is too dumb to get the imperious curse right, so it was fairly easy to fight it off. We would have told McGonagall, but we didn't want anything to happen to Ginny. If we left he would have really hurt her."

"So she's still down there, Dungeon 10 still?" Harry asked, surprisingly calm.

"Um, yeah," Breckin said.

"Thank you," he replied before running down the hall, all the other teens following in his wake. He walked into the dungeon after wandlessly unlocking the door. The sight he saw before him was almost enough to make him physically ill. Ginny was lying there, her shirt torn completely off and thrown across the room, along with her bra, the one Harry had told her he liked. Her skirt was hiked up, and her underwear torn away from her body, all while she was unconscious, by an unsuspecting Michael Corner.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Draco growled, as a forewarning of sorts. Harry sent a burst of wandless magic that caused the Ravenclaw to be thrown across the dungeon and into the opposing wall. It was now that Harry noticed her hands were tied together to the leg of a desk, above her head. She had several bruised like she had put up quite a struggle before he stunned her. 'That's my Gin, always a fighter,' Harry thought.

"Do you know what you've done, Corner?" Harry asked calmly, walking toward the fallen Ravenclaw. Ron ran behind him, taking off his outer robes and coving his nearly naked, unconscious sister with them. "You've made me angry. Do you know what happens when I get really angry?"

Michael nodded. "See I don't think you do, scum. The last time I was angry, I fucking killed Voldemort!" Harry yelled, finally breaking his façade of coolness. "I don't think you want me to get angry."

Michael nodded again. Harry sent a stinging hex at him, hitting him full in the face. The younger wizard screamed in agony. Hermione cast the Furunculous curse, and Draco paired that with a Bat-Bogey Hex.

"Brilliant!" Ron said as Michael sprouted tentacle like projections all over his body. Ron picked Ginny up and kept her wrapped in his robes, close to his body.

"Incarcerous," Harry muttered darkly. Ropes bound Michael extremely tightly; probably tighter than normal due to Harry's enraged state. "Let's get this bastard up stairs."

"I'll carry her to Pomfrey," Ron offered. Harry nodded.

"I'll levitate him there too," Harry said smugly. "There's probably some damage done to him from all the hexes."

"Now the bastard looks like what happened to me all those years ago," Draco quipped. Harry gave a chuckle, surprisingly.

"If only Ginny could see this, since she was the one who really hexed you at the end; used the same hex you just did as well," Harry clarified.

"Well, the fiery red head has a good vote in my book," Draco mused. "We need to get to the hospital wing with her."

The teenagers made their way up all the secret passageways and shortcuts to get up to the hospital wing. All the Ravenclaws, who followed them to give their testimony, were contesting each of the passages that they decided to take, but after a while they just stopped; they just conceded to the fact that Harry, Ron and Hermione knew their way around the school nearly as well as the teachers. Once they reached the Hospital wing, Professor McGonagall was already there with Molly, both looking quite panic-stricken.

"I don't want him anywhere near her," Harry told Madam Pomfrey as she walked over to him with a questioning look. "Please look at Ginny first, this creep can wait."

"Tell us what happened," Madam Pomfrey said, pulling a curtain around Ginny. "I can still hear, I would just like to work on her at the same time."

"Well, we were leaving potions and heading to transfiguration when her bag split," Harry began. He proceeded to tell the entire story to the older woman, who only really had one thing to say when they recounted the time in the common room.

"You've really matured, Harry," Professor McGonagall noted. "A few years ago you would have just charged back into the dungeon and been hurt as well as Miss Weasley."

"Well, I don't know how it's different, but I guess I just needed her to be safe," Harry shrugged before going on with the story. All three Ravenclaws gave their testimonies and the reasoning behind why they didn't come to her right away.

"He threatened us about doing worse things to Ginny or taking her to another place where we could do nothing to stop him," George said. Jeremy and Breckin were fairly quick to agree.

"You three shall receive special services to the school," Professor McGonagall said.

Madam Pomfrey emerged from the curtained off bed. "She wasn't raped, I can tell you that much, but there is quite a bit of damage done either way. She had two broken ribs, a few fractures in each wrist and she has a particularly nasty bruise on her upper left cheek. Ron, would you mind terribly owling your brother for some of the wonderful bruise removed that I've heard so much about? No paste of mine is nearly that strong."

"Of course, I'll just floo him, if you don't mind, it'll be quicker," Ron suggested.

"Of course," she said, and led him off to the private fireplace in her office. Harry walked behind the curtain to see Ginny. She was still wrapped in Ron's robes. She looked rather peaceful but she was still under the effects of the stunner. He saw the nasty bruise on her cheek, and he felt his heard clench in anger. He hadn't been there; she had told him that she would be fine. He knew something like this would happen. He was safe during the entire war, no harm befalling her. Only after the most evil wizard in the history of the world was dead did she get hurt, and he wasn't even there to protect her. While he was mentally berating himself Ginny stirred.

"Uggg," she groaned.

"Ginny!" he whispered excitingly, not wanting to alert the others just yet. He stroked the side of her face, opposite the bruise, gently. Tears made their way down her face.

"Shh, it's okay," Harry soothed, brushing the hair off her face. He heard Ron return and walk behind the curtain. Harry got up, deciding to let Ron put on the bruise remover. "She's awake, but afraid."

"Alright, mate," Ron said as he sat on the side of the bed. "Hey Gin-Gin, don't cry, I'm here, everything's gonna be alright."

"Don't call me Gin-Gin," she said, giving a watery chuckle, and smacked his arm lightly.

"There's my Ginny," he said. "I got George's bruise remover from when Hermione found the punching telescope, remember that?"

"Yeah, she looked like she had gotten sucker punched," Ginny commented. "I bet I look like I do too."

"Kinda, you want to tell me what happened?" Ron coaxed.

"I'll say it once to everyone, only once, so they had better get a ministry official here to take that little shit away," Ginny said, seething with anger.

"Alright then," Ron said. "Madam Pomfrey took pictures of your injury to show, so they'd let me heal the bruises you have. It'll take about an hour for the thing to go away."

"Fine, who's all here?" she asked, as he rubbed the nasty yellow paste on her cheek.

"Harry, Mione, me, Draco, Breckin Lewis, Jeremy Zaire, George Dallas, mum, McGonagall, and Pomfrey for starters, but I think more of the family was going to come," he said as he gently spread the paste to cover the whole bruise. "George is closing the shop so he can come now, Bill I think is bringing Fleur, so we get to see her all pregnant, and I think Percy is going to come with Dad and the ministry representative."

"Why the Ravenclaws?" she asked, going back to the Quidditch players.

"Cause the bastard tried to get them to help him. They had the imperious curse on them but they were able to throw it off."

"Are they still here?" Ron nodded. "I would like to thank them."

Ron drew back the curtains after helping Ginny into a sitting position. "Oi! Breckin, Jeremy, George, get over here," Ron shouted.

"Don't shout Ronald, you'll wake Ginny," Molly scolded.

"She's already awake, and I've told her our story. She will only tell her story once, so go get the ministry officials, and you might as well tell dad and Percy to come as well," Ron commanded. "She says she's okay enough to talk to people. Now you three, she wants a word."

The three Ravenclaws nodded solemnly and walked over to the bed. "I just wanted to thank you," she said, effectively cutting them off before they could start to apologize. "Look, the only person who I am mad at is myself, besides the massive prick."

"But why? You did nothing wrong?" Breckin insisted.

"Yes, I pushed Harry away. I thought I'd be okay, but I was wrong," she said firmly.

"Look, we knew Michael was wrong, but we should have gotten McGonagall," Jeremy said, hanging his head.

"No, you did what you did so I didn't get hurt worse," Ginny said. "You helped Harry find me."

"I've never seen him that angry," George said, ruffling his hair. "Not even after whatTroydid."

"Harry cares for you more than his own well being," Breckin said. "We will let you rest not, we're just so glad that you're alright."

"Thank you," she whispered and squeezed all three of their hands. They left and Hermione came back.

"Hey sweetie," she said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm sore, what exactly happened to me, all I've heard from Ron is that I had a big arse bruise on my cheek," Ginny chuckled but winced slightly.

"You've had two broken ribs, and multiple fractures to both wrists," Hermione stated. "But Madam Pomfrey healed that all up. She didn't think you would appreciate an older woman getting rid of the bruises on your chest and stomach. Pomfrey is probably trying to get Harry to do it for her."

Ginny blushed. "You're right, that would be awkward."

"Gin?" a timid sounding Harry asked.

"Come on back!" Hermione said loudly. "I'm just leaving." She kissed Ginny's forehead and left with a parting 'Get well soon.'

Harry walked behind the curtain to see a disheveled Ginny. "How are you feeling?"

"Better once these things are all over with," she said honestly.

"I am so sorry, Ginny, I couldn't protect you," Harry said ashamedly. "I don't deserve to be with someone who needed me and I couldn't help them at all."

"Harry James Potter!" Ginny shouted, grabbing the back of his head with both of her hands, forcing him to look her in the eye. "You listen to me, and you listen good. I love you! Nothing is going to change that. I told you to go in, it's my fault, but nothing can be done about it now."

"I—" she cut him off.

"I don't want to hear another word against what I've just said. Now you want to help heal the bruises or what?" she challenged playfully.

"Alright then," Harry said. He unscrewed the cap of George's bruise remover and got a bit on his finger. "Where does this need to go?"

"Here," she said, opening Ron's robes to show off her naked torso. Her chest and stomach was covered with bruises and red marks; there also were a few marks on the insides of her thighs.

"Oh, Gin," Harry said, sad about the bruises and angry about Michael for causing it.

"Please, just rub it into the bruises," Ginny pleaded, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

"Don't cry, love, don't cry," Harry soothed, pulling her close to his chest.

"I was so scared," she sobbed. "I fought as hard as I could, I was winning, and then the bastard stunned me."

"He'll never come near you again, as long as you live," Harry promised.

"Thank you," she sobbed. Harry pulled back from the embrace and brushed the tears away with the pads of his thumbs.

"I'll always be here for you," Harry said, kissing her forehead lightly. She pulled back immediately.

"It'll just take some time," Ginny said.

"I understand," Harry said, and started to rub the nasty yellow paste into the various bruises.

Several hours later, the Ministry official finally arrived, followed by Arthur and Percy Weasley. He watched the interview; McGonagall charmed their Quick Quotes Quill in the same manner as Hermione had when they gave their interview at the Daily profit, allowing it only to write what Ginny said, word for word.

"My name is Ginevra Molly Weasley, age seventeen. I was the victim of a sexual assault by Michael Jasper Corner."

"Please, give a detailed account of what happened."

"Well, I left the potions classroom down in the dungeon area with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy when my school bag, carrying all my personal possessions, split. I stayed behind to clean it all up and I told Harry, my boyfriend, to go on to Transfiguration, which we both had with my mother. Once I had all my stuff cleaned up, I noticed that my bag was split perfectly. I sent off an invisible message patronus to Harry. Then Michael took my wand and knocked me out.

"When I came to, I was in a dungeon room that I had never seen before, number ten from what I have been told. He had my hands tied above my head to a desk. He was ripping my clothes off, but I fought back. I had two broke ribs and multiple wrist fractured to prove it. He was such a weakling and a bastard that he couldn't get what he wanted while I was awake, so he stunned me again. The next thing I remember was Ron sitting next to me, talking."

"Thank you Miss Weasley," the Ministry official said and left.

"Miss Weasley, here is a sleeping potion," Madam Pomfrey said. "You'll feel better physically. Emotionally, you probably will be in turmoil for a short while, but you've got the best of friends and family to help you out here."

"Thank you," Ginny murmured. "For everything."

"You're welcome, sweetheart," she whispered. Once she fell asleep, Harry sat in the chair next to her bed and held her hand.

"Would it be okay if I stayed here for the night?" Harry asked the patron. Madam Pomfrey looked to Professor McGonagall, who nodded.

"Yes you may Potter," she said kindly.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 23 NEWTs**

It took Ginny a whole two weeks for her to be able to have Harry kiss her again. She just threw herself into her studying for their exams. Each test was nearly a whole day to complete, the part before lunch being the written tests and the part after would be the practical part. Hermione had a schedule made up for each person and posted it in their common room. She and Draco made copies of their notes from previous years so the others could study something that they could read, instead of their old handwriting.

Harry was very glad to let Ginny have all the time that she needed to recover from her ordeal. He was just happy to be there, sitting next to her in the common room and in lunch, with him either holding her hand or having his arm around her waist. She began to smile, truly smile, a few days after she was released from the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey gave her a few potions to help her through the nights because the first night she had woken up with a horrible nightmare.

**FLASHBACK**

_Harry slept next to her hospital bed; he actually didn't sleep very much that night. He caught a few minutes here and there, but he mainly just sat there, watching her sleep, seemingly peaceful. Harry was rubbing small circles on the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb. It still felt soft but he could feel the gentle swelling caused from her fractured wrist bones. _

_Around three in the morning, she started making small noises, sounding much like she was whimpering. Harry woke immediately from his catnap, and watched to see where this was going. Her whimpers were slowly turning to whispers of "no" and the words got louder "NO! DON'T! STOP!" She started to thrash around on her bed. Harry got up from his chair and pulled Ginny up into a tight hug. She screamed. _

_"Get away! Harry! Ron! Anyone!"_

_"It's alright Ginny, I'm already here," Harry murmured against her temple, into her ear. She began to attack his chest. _

_"Harry!" she cried out again. _

_"Ginny, wake up, I need you to come back to me," he said, pulling her body even closer to him. He kissed the top of her head and forehead carefully. She went limp in his arms and he just cradled her to his body. _

_"Madam Pomfrey!" Harry called, Ginny was now sobbing uncontrollably into his shirt. The elderly patron came bustling out of her office in a tartan dressing gown, not highly unlike Professor McGonagall's. _

_"What is it dear? I thought I heard a scream," she said, slightly out of breath. _

_"She had a nightmare," Harry said, brushing the damp red hair off her forehead. _

_"Alright then, I'm going to get a small vial of Dreamless Sleep Potion for the next few hours, so she can sleep," she said as she bustled off to the closet where all the potions were stored. Harry just kept rocking Ginny. _

_"You wanna tell me about it?" he asked. _

_"It was the same as earlier," she murmured. "That bastard is always going to plague my dreams."_

_"No he won't, not if you don't let him," Harry said wisely. _

_"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes looking curiously up at him. _

_"Occlumency. I can teach you, if you'd like," Harry said. "I'm sure Hermione would be willing to help."_

_"I think I might," Ginny whispered. Madam Pomfrey came back from the supply closet and brought her a small measure of potion to last until __9 in__ the morning. _

_"Sleep well, love," Harry said. _

_"Thank you," she said as she swallowed the potion. _

**END FLASHBACK**

They all were constantly making study guides and review sheets for their classes, studying after and between every class. They stayed in the Head's dormitory on weekends to get at least 12 hours of studying in. they would also quiz each other on the things that that may be tested on and what they learned in their classes. These quizzes resulted in competitions between all 8 teens. Ron took to keeping score on their personal chalkboard. Hermione was tied with Luna with 8 quizzes won with the highest score; then Draco and Ron with 6; the rest had 5 each. They were pretty much the smartest kids in the school at this point in time. Even Professor McGonagall was surprised.

"Look guys, she's put out a class ranking!" Hermione squealed as she ran to the entrance hall, toward the long list of parchment.

Hermione Jane GrangerDraco Lucius MalfoyLuna Anne LovegoodHarry James PotterRonald Bilius WeasleyGinevra Molly WeasleyNeville Augustine LongbottomSusan Amanda BonesErnest Michael MacmillanDean Anthony ThomasHannah Marie AbbottJustin Liam Finch-Fletchley

"Luna, why are you on the 7th years list?" Harry asked.

"I was going to let it be a surprise but I'm going to sit my NEWTS for 6th and 7th year," Luna said.

"That's wonderful!" Hermione shouted. Everyone went to bombard her with hugs and Neville got a big public kiss. When Harry saw this, it reminded him of the time that Ginny let him kiss her the first time after the incident.

**FLASHBACK**

_They were sitting in the Head's Dormitory after everyone else was asleep. Harry was sitting with his back against the couch in front of the fire; Ginny was nestled between his legs, leaning her back against his chest. Harry had his arms around her waist, rubbing the exposed part of her stomach lightly. _

_"Harry? Can I ask you a question?" Ginny asked quietly. _

_"Sure, anything," Harry said. _

_"Do you still want me?"_

_"Of course I do, I love you," he said. "What brought this on?"_

_"Well I was attacked, and I thought you would leave me because I was weak and couldn't fight him off," Ginny said. She made to get up but Harry only held her tighter. _

_"You listen to me, and you listen well," he warned. "I love you and nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever change that."_

_Ginny surprised both of them by saying, "Kiss me."_

_"What?"_

_"Kiss me."_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Kiss me already dammit!" she growled. Harry knew not to provoke her, so he turned her around and kissed her lightly on the lips. _

_"Harry James Potter, kiss me like you mean it!" Ginny urged. Harry growled in return, not liking to be told what to do, and he turned her completely around in his lap. _

_"Fine," he said gruffly, forcing his lips to hers, kissing her hungrily. She returned the kiss with equal fervor. Nipping at her lip, she moaned, causing Harry to deepen the kiss; his tongue seeking out hers. She adjusted herself so she could straddle him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, so her warm center was directly over his growing arousal. Ginny broke the kiss immediately. _

_"H—Harry, I'm not ready," she said shakily. _

_"I know, I didn't expect you to," Harry admitted. "But you feel that? That's all for you."_

_"Thank you, love," she said before they decided to go to bed, him spooned up behind her. _

**END FLASHBACK**

During their lessons, the teachers gave them a light workload, due to the fact that nearly all their work had already been completed. Molly did a few extra projects like turning animals into each other (cross species switches). She even got them to do a "transforming" project without magic.

"I went to a class over the past couple of weeks, and now I'll pass my knowledge down to you," Molly said.

"Ooh, what is it mum?" Ginny cried excitedly.

"A pottery class," Molly announced cheerfully.

"Awesome," Ginny squealed. Molly waved her wand at her desks and transfigured them into a pottery wheel, water basin and day.

"You can transfigure your clothes into something more appropriate," she said as she summoned her own pottery wheel. The children made their clothes into very old play clothes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It took the full class time to get everything learned things that were the most basic. This could be their final projects so to speak. They were going to make, paint, and overall create their own masterpieces. Hermione, Harry, and Ginny couldn't really get the hang of things. But Draco and Ron could. Draco had the perfect hands for sculpting while Ron, surprisingly being as big as he was, did things calmly and smoothly. Hermione attributed this to his workouts; they helped him get his anger out.

Hermione and Ginny discovered that their hands were too small to properly shape the pieces they wanted. Hermione was thoroughly pissed off that she couldn't so something with knowledge. Harry had no patients and that was something he would need to work on later in his life. After years of waiting for the proper opportunity to kill Voldemort, the only thing he really found patients for Ginny.

The day before NEWTS were set to begin, Molly help class while all the others had canceled. They all had their projects together. Each teen had a concealment charm over their so no one could see what they were working on. Harry unveiled a model of the snitch, in between the size of an actual snitch and the cake that Molly had made for his birthday. Draco had a vase with the Slytherin house colors, Malfoy coat of arms and his name. Ron created the same thing but with Gryffindor colors and his crest and name. Hermione and Ginny did their projects together but separately. They made four plates. Hermione colored the fall and winter versions, while Ginny tackled the spring and summer ones. The result of this project got all five of them outstandings.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

NEWT SCHEDULE

Monday (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, and Ginny)

9-12è Transfigurationà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Transfigurationà practical

Tuesday (Neville)

9-12è Herbologyà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Herbologyà practical

Wednesday (Hermione, Ginny, and Luna)

9-12è Muggle Studiesà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Muggle Studiesà practical

Thursday (Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Draco)

9-12è Arithmancyà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Arithmancyà practical

Friday (Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Susan, Draco, Neville, Harry, and Ron)

9-12è Charmsà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Charmsà practical

Monday (Hermione, Ginny, Susan, Draco, and Luna)

9-12è Ancient Runesà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Ancient Runesà practical

Tuesday (Luna, Hermione, and Susan)

9-12è History of Magicà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Astronomyà practical (All)

Wednesday (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, Luna, Susan, and Draco)

9-12è Defense Against the Dark Arts à oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Defense Against the Dark Artsà practical

Thursday (Susan)

9-12è Divinationà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Divinationà practical

Friday (Neville)

9-12è Care of Magical Creaturesà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Care of Magical Creaturesà practical

Saturday (Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Susan, Draco, and Luna)

9-12è Potionsà oral

12-1è lunch break

1-4è Potionsà practical

The next two weeks were pretty much hell for all of the seventh years, and everyone was ordered to leave them alone. Once testing was done everyday, all 8 teens collapsed and fell asleep in the Head's common room. Kreacher and Winky woke them up for dinner after a few hours. Once the teens were finished, they studied for about two hours before they went to bed, only to repeat the cycle everyday for the next two weeks.

"Thank Merlin these tests are all over," Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly.

"I thought you lived for these kinds of tests?" Ron mused, which earned him a playful slap.

"I'll have you know, I've never liked taking tests, hence my boggart in third year," Hermione said adamantly.

"So she is human," Draco commented, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks Draco, tell me how you really feel," she replied dryly.

"Can you believe it? We can finally graduate," Neville exclaimed, yelling the final two words.

"Well, I'll be leaving the first place that I've ever called home," Harry said wistfully, a great sadness permeating his tone.


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Though everyone went on to lead their separate lives, they still remained very close friends. It was an unspoken rule, but the first weekend of every month, one member of their group was supposed to have a small get together, just so they could catch up on things happening in their post-Hogwarts lives.

Draco went on to the work at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries, as an Unspeakable. The score on his NEWT's were second only to Hermione's, only because she had taken a few more courses than he did. The Malfoy name had been in the gutter during the final days of the war, but Draco intended to change that. He helped support research projects: retrieving people from behind the veil, like Sirius Black (which he was personally working on); the further treatment and trying to find cures for the long-term residents at St. Mungo's; and a complete restoration of Hogwarts.

Susan had moved into Malfoy Manor right after graduation, but Narcissa and Lucius surprised the two teens by building them a guest house on the outskirts of the grounds. This allowed them privacy as well as more independence. Susan went to work for the Ministry as well, but decided to continue her Auntie's legacy in the Magical Law Enforcement Department. Draco was such a worry wort when it came to her well being. He was worried about her getting hurt on the job. She proved to him that she was perfectly capable of handling herself by means of a due, officiated by Lucius. They threw curse after curse at each other, neither holding back on their abilities. The duel ended on a tie, and Draco's mind was put at ease. Lucius was impressed by Susan and told her so (and he didn't give out compliments very often).

Draco and Susan got engaged three years out of school and had a two year engagement period. They were married in a small ceremony of friends in April of 2006. Their son Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was born late in 2006. Not many people knew that Susan was about two months along at the wedding. She was so in shape that she didn't start to show until she was nearly six months along. They were really happy with their little family, but once Scorpius turned nine, Susan was pregnant again. In 2015, Judith Caitlin was born. Scorpius turned out to be a wonderful brother.

Draco took retirement after fifteen years in the Department of Mysteries. He stayed more than twice the average amount of years that most people spent there. They just got burned out so quickly. He managed their accounts from home and became a stay-at-home Dad. Susal was finally made the head of her Department and they couldn't be happier. They even managed to free Sirius back from the veil before Draco retired. (Sirius, the playboy, eventually married Madam Rosmerta)

Neville graduated in the top ten of their class, much more than his Gran had ever hoped from him. He went directly to St. Mungo's to apply for their Healer program; he was accepted straight away. He took three years to graduate instead of the typical four years. Neville loved every minute of it. He graduated with honors because he discovered a new cross germination. Since Neville loved Herbology so much, this was his final project, and he tried to cross a mandrake with bubotubers. When the essence was collected from these plants, he found that it had restorative property completely unknown to the wizarding or Muggle world. He used this essence on his parents, and after about a month of intense therapy, they returned practically to normal. He was given an Order of Merlin for his discovery. He patented this new discovery and made quite a bit of money.

Luna Lovegood took over officially for her father as Editor in Chief for the Quibbler. The magazine stayed the same for the most part, but there were some changes. Along with the oddities, there were not interview with important people around the wizarding the equivalent of a 'Dear Abbey' column for the magazine, titled 'Dear Aggie'. Neville published a column on medical advances that occur once a month.

Luna and Neville were married in the April of 2002. The wedding was rather large becauseAugustahad a lot of relatives. All of the Weasley's had been invited as well and there was a while lot of people with just them. They had their first child, Mary Anne, in 2004. She was the spitting image of Luna, much to Neville's pleasure. Their second child, Cara Michelle, who was born in 2010, looked just like him.

Hermione went into the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. This position allowed her to petition for the rights of house-elves, werewolves, dragons, and giants. She graduated with the highest grades in all the subjects that she had taken in Hogwart's history (except Harry in Defense). Higher even than Dumbledore. Eventually she became Transfiguration professor when Molly wanted to retire. Later on she became Head Mistress after Professor McGonagall passed on.

Ron went right into the Auror program. He was by far the biggest recruit, which the drill-Aurors liked. He swept the floor with the other recruits, except Harry, during basic training. Those two passed with such high scores, they by-passed the rookie stage and became fully functional Aurors. After the required fifteen years of service, they retired with honors. He was offered a position at Hogwarts, as flying/Quidditch instructor. Madam Hooch was very happy with her replacement. He took this job very seriously; in fact, he organized an annual alumni game. There were four teams and no one was placed via house preference, but by means of a draft. Everyone even seemed to get on with each other. The captains were picked at random and the games were a great success. Two galleon donation was require for admission and the money went to purchasing new brooms and equipment for the school.

Ron proposed to Hermione when he graduated the Auror program in 2002. They were married six months later. Making the decision to settle in their jobs for a while before they had kids, they waited four years to start. Rose was born in July 2006 and Hugo was born in 2007. Hermione took time away from the office so she could be home with the kids. She still worked via old and floo, and when she needed to go into the office, there were quite a few babysitters available: Bill and Fleur, who had Victoire Jacqueline (August 2001), and David Robert (2002); Lucius and Narcissa; and if they really needed, Teddy Lupin, who was fifteen. He volunteered to help the kids when they were a bit older. Contrary to belief, Hermione enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. She would even babysit others from time to time.

Ginny had decided to become a healer. She too had graduated in three years instead of four, with the help of her study buddy, Neville. She set out to create a cure for Dragon Pox, and completed her research in 2010. She was offered a position on the Holy Head Harpies, the only all-girls team in the National Quidditch League and her favorite team, but she decided against it; opting for more a quiet life at home with the love of her life.

Harry joined the Auror Department with Ron, and they quickly became the most well known, successful Aurors. They dedicated their success to Mad-Eye and Tonks, the two Aurors they were close with in the war. Harry and Ron were also the most decorated Aurors since Mad-Eye himself. They became co-Head's of the department. After fifteen years of dedicated service, Harry retired and took up the DADA professor position when Viktor was killed by a gang inBulgariaduring a summer holiday, and Bill wanted to go back to his first love, curse-breaking at Gringotts.

Harry proposed to Ginny in 2004 and they were married six months later. Molly pulled out all the stops with this wedding, and with Ron and Hermione's. There were upwards of 500 guests for each one. In 2005 James Sirius was born, a year later Albus Severus, and a year after that was Lily Luna. Ginny stayed home for a while but she decided to share shifts with Neville so they would baby sit each other's kids on their off days.

So you see, they did manage to live Happily Ever After… even 19 years later.


End file.
